Player Spotlight: FishBone10

FishBone10 is one of our top players, consistently logging among the highest numbers in the clan.  Per popular request, we sat down for a quick interview to find out more about him.

Q1: What's your name in real life?
A1: Laurence Day

Q2: What is your day job?
A2: I'm an analyst for an anti-piracy company based out Denmark with offices in  Lithuania, France, UK, and Southern Cali.  My job basically entails staring at spreadsheets for 10 hours and then discussing said spreadsheets at ungodly hours.  Somehow there are always issues on Tuesdays.

Q3: What's an interesting thing about you?
A3: I'm really into Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.  There really is no better feeling than slapping on a triangle choke while transitioning from a straight arm bar!  Kimuras are pretty spectacular as well.

Q4: How did you get into Halo and/or video games?
A4: I'm a guy and I'm asian. I think that says it all.

Q5: What's your favorite thing about playing Halo?
A5: Killing that 12 year old s*&t talker over and over again  and finally getting him to shut the efff up.

Q6: What's your biggest dislike about playing Halo?
A6: Getting killed over and over by previously said 12 year old.

Q7: How do you manage video game time with wife time?
A7: I buy a lot of dinner, got netflix, and I do a lot of activities that I would prefer not to do.  Even after all that I get the occasional "talk" about my gaming habits.

Q8: Is there anything (good or bad) that stands out for clan night?

A8: GT's trash talking is always entertaining!

Many thanks to FishBone10 for his time and continuing to participate in the clan!

HR Weapons - Groupings

Weapons in Halo fall into classes.  Weapons within those classes have similar behaviors and will be comfortable to players who are familiar with any weapons in that class.  If you don't know, you can check your Halo Reach commendations on bungie.net and see what's at the top.  This will give you a good idea of the type of weapons you currently gravitate towards.

Note 1: The weapons listed below in each class do not necessarily count towards the associated commendation.  I've only listed them to indicate that weapon may be comfortable for you if you have a higher ranking in that commendation.

Note 2: Though the bungie.net commendations represent your current proclivities, that can be changed if you are motivated.

"Trigger Man", "Assistant" commendations. Fully automatic projectile weapons:

• Chain Gun
• Assault Rifle
• Spiker
• Needler - This is slightly different because of its "combine" ability, but is favored by similar players.

"Trigger Man", "Assistant" commendations. Energy weapons:

• Plasma Repeater
• Plasma Turret
• Plasma Pistol "Green Gun" - This isn't automatic like the other weapons in this class, but is useful in many similar instances.

"One Shot", "Crack Shot" commendations.  Headshot-capable weapons:

• Needle Rifle - This actually has an automatic fire mode, but is rarely used that way.
• Magnum
• DMR

"Close Quarters", "Any Spree" commendations: Close encounter weapons:

• Energy Sword
• Shotgun
• Gravity Hammer

"Grenadier", "Assistant", "Mobile Asset", "Heavy Weapon" commendations.  Supporting heavy weapons:

• Concussion Rifle
• Grenade Launcher "Pro Pipe"

"Mobile Asset", "Heavy Weapon" commendations.  Killing heavy weapons:

• Fuel Rod Cannon 
• Rocket Launcher
• Plasma Launcher "n00b tube"

"Mobile Asset", "Crack Shot" commendations.  Long-range precision weapons:

• Sniper Rifle
• Focus Rifle "Laser Beam"
• Spartan Laser - This is technically a heavy weapon, but requires a steadier hand than the typical heavy weapon.

"Grenadier", "Assistant", "Mobile Asset" commendations.  Grenades:

• Plasma Grenade
• Frag Grenade

HR: UNSC Weapons - Medusa Missile

Basic description: Vehicle mounted, auto-tracking missile. Fully automatic, 4 round magazine, infinite ammo.  Target locks after being painted by the reticle.  Fire and forget capability after locked.

NEW FOR HALO REACH: Brand new in Reach.

Restrictions: Missiles harmlessly bounce off shielded Covenant Seraphs.

Uses: Short to long range.  Good for killing other starfighters, instantly kills unshielded Seraphs and Banshees, takes two bursts of 4 missiles to kill Phantom gunships.

Best for: Sabre pilots.

HR: UNSC Weapons - ALA Cannon (M1024)

Basic description: Vehicle mounted auto cannon. Fully automatic, infinite ammo, never overheats.  Fires a projectile, mounted in pairs on the Sabre starfighter.  Has a smart targeting reticle that allows pilot to automatically lead the target.

NEW FOR HALO REACH: Brand new in Reach.

Restrictions: Slightly less accurate and slower kill time on unshielded ships compared to Medusa Missiles.

Uses: Short to long range.  Good for killing other starfighters, is the only weapon capable of taking down the shields on Covenant Seraphs.

Best for: Sabre pilots.

HR: UNSC Weapons - Automatic Grenade Launcher (MG460)

Basic description: Vehicle mounted grenade launcher. Single shot, single reload, infinite ammo, can not be detached. Launches a grenade that does impact damage and splash damage. Grenade explosion can be delayed by holding trigger down, will not explode until trigger is released.

NEW FOR HALO REACH: Brand new in Reach.

Restrictions: Slow reload leaves player vulnerable on misses. Grenades bounce much more erratically than thrown grenades.

Uses: Medium to long range. One-shot kills, EMP damage from splash damage. Can launch grenades near targets and time explosion to do remote damage. Excellent for knocking Banshees out of the sky, killing vehicles and turret emplacements.

Best for: Players who can time a grenade arc and delayed explosion well.

HR: UNSC Weapons - Target Locator (H165)

Basic description: "God power."  Calls in a 7-missile orbital artillery bombardment.  1 round magazine, 3 max capacity. Recoil does not apply, extremely accurate. Designates a target area that completely gets obliterated.

NEW FOR HALO REACH: Brand new for Reach.

Restrictions: Has a finite recharge time.  Can not be reloaded.

Uses: Long to very long range. Instantly kills everything.  Only see in Campaign so far.

Best for: Players that can stay alive and laze a target from a safe location.  Player is completely exposed during target designation.

HR: Covenant Weapons - Fuel Rod Gun (Type-33)

Basic description: Heavy rocket launcher-class weapon. Fires energy mortars, 4 round magazine. High recoil, inaccurate. Nearly identical to previous Fuel Rod Gun.

NEW FOR HALO REACH: Looks slightly different, but functions very similar to previous incarnations.

Restrictions: Splash damage can result in suicides, limited ammo.  Takes more direct hits to kill vehicles than UNSC Rocket Launcher

Uses: Short to long range. Is instant kill against infantry on direct hits, has significant splash damage.  Ideal for countering against vehicles.  Fires at a fast rate.

Best for: Conservative players that can reserve the power weapon to take out vehicles.

HR: Covenant Weapons - Concussion Rifle (Type-50)

Basic description: Semi-automatic magazine-fed grenade launcher class weapon.  Fires directed energy bolts that have a pressure wave effect in addition to direct damage. 6 round magazine. High recoil, inaccurate. Similar in damage to the previous Brute Shot,  fires the same munition the Revenant does.

NEW FOR HALO REACH: Brand new weapon in Reach.

Restrictions: Inaccurate, limited ammo, suffers from gravity effect and will drop as the energy bolt travels over distance.

Uses: Short to long range. Very difficult to be accurate at long range, but will travel a long distance.  Excellent anti-vehicle weapon as concussion effect can easily flip light vehicles.  Takes shields down very quickly for infantry.

Best for: Heavy weapon players. Players that like the previous Brute Shot, or Fuel Rod cannon will be comfortable with this immediately.

HR: Covenant Weapons - Spiker (Type-25)

Basic description: Fully automatic suppression weapon. Fires projectiles instead of energy bursts (like other Covenant weapons), 40 round magazine, 160 max capacity. Medium recoil, fairly inaccurate. Nearly identical to previous Brute Spiker.  Similar in function to the UNSC Assault Rifle.

NEW FOR HALO REACH: Reticle bloom affects accuracy.  Bullets are "instant-hit" instead of "real-time travel over distance."  This means you hit when you shoot, regardless of range, no need to lead targets anymore.

Restrictions: Suffers from significant reticle bloom, shoot in bursts to increase accuracy.

Uses: Short to medium range. Can be paired with a magnum for finishing headshots, which is faster than reloading. Good as a team weapon to focus fire on common targets. Works well when backed up with Needle Rifle fire.  Use in same situations as the AR, but ammo is generally not as readily available.

Best for: AR players. Players that like to run and gun will be comfortable with this weapon.  Is *significantly* more accurate and effective when fired in bursts instead of continuous automatic fire.

HR Maps - Paradiso

Paradiso is one of the new maps that wasn't in the Beta, click below images for huge.  It's a large, symmetrical map that we've seen in Invasion Slayer.

Key locations:

• (A) Spartan Laser - This is at the end of the high catwalk on the center tower.  The tower is accessible from either team's teleporter, and the catwalk is accessed via mancannon.  Laser is always there, regardless of territories captured.
• (B) Grenade Launcher (Pro Pipe) - This is on the ground in the middle of the man made tunnel through the mountain.
• (C) Blue Base
• (D) Blue Teleporter - Has a Concussion Rifle on the platform, teleporter leads to center tower
• (E) Red Base
• (F) Red Teleporter - Has a Concussion Rifle on the platform, teleporter leads to center tower
• (G) Bridge - Two manconnons on either side just speed crossing the bridge

I've also placed six green circles on the map to represent the Invasion Slayer territories.  Though there are Scorpions, Banshees, and Ghosts pictured on the map here, they do not actually start on the map until territories are captured.  At the beginning of Invasion Slayer matches, there is generally a rush through the teleporters to take the center tower and laser.  The opposing territories can be suppressed from the tower with the laser in that fashion.

Close up screenshots of weapon locations:

 

Clan night tonight. 8pm PT. Halo Reach.

Like last week, I will participate as I am able.  However, the new baby isn't entirely settled into a routine, so my gaming may still be somewhat sporadic.  I apologize in advance for having to drop out of games.

Halo Reach Commendations

Commendations are cool little recognitions that the game pops up to recognize stylistic things that you do.  They are designed to showcase what "type" a player is, since folks will tend to gravitate towards one type of commendation over another.  It's not explicitly clear what does what on same of the commendations, but here is some info I've found on the ones that pop for using specific weapons:

[Updated 10/19/10]

• Crack Shot: DMR, Needle Rifle, Sniper Rifle, Focus Rifle
• Sidearm: Magnum, Plasma Pistol
• Trigger Man: Assault Rifle, Spiker, Plasma Repeater, Plasma Rifle, Needler
• Heavy Weapon: Rocket Launcher, Spartan Laser, Fuel Rod Cannon, Plasma Launcher, Grenade Launcher, Concussion Rifle, Target Locator
• Close Quarters: Melee, Shotgun, Energy Sword, Gravity Hammer.
• EMP (not a commendation): Plasma Pistol, Grenade Launcher, Armor Lock
• Supercombine: Needler, Needle Rifle

I think that the Needler is an automatic weapon and counts towards Trigger Man but haven't confirmed it yet.  Jack of All Trades is mysterious because it counts "incredible feats", but this is the one I've progressed the furthest, so it must count lots of stuff.

There is an achievement to advance a commendation to silver, but I'm fairly confident that everyone will eventually get this just with playtime.

Campaign by the Numbers

So I've now finished the campaign on Normal Co-op (4 players), Legendary Co-op (2-4 players) and Legendary Solo.  Here's some tidbits that the data suggests:

• Level 2 "Winter Contingency" (this is first "real" level, level 1 is just cutscenes), as would be expected, is the easiest campaign level.  It has the fewest enemies, takes the shortest time to finish, and is the easiest to survive without dying.  Would be a good level to work on the Campaign commendations, especially "Flawless Cowboy."
• Level 10 [Title redacted for spoilers] is overall the hardest campaign level.  I won't say much more here to avoid spoilers in case anybody hasn't played it yet.
• The game does not appear to adjust anything for co-op play.  Enemies, weapons, ammo, available points are all essentially the same whether you are playing solo or co-op.
• Pro: This means there are fewer enemies each player needs to kill in co-op.
• Pro: Co-op brings with it significant advantages in that you can respawn in place when you die instead of returning to a check-point.
• Con: Because the game also does not generate more ammo and vehicles for co-op, so that can be a restriction on occasion.
• Con: The total number of points stays the same, so you will generate score more points per person playing on solo.
• Level 5 "Tip of the Spear" has the best opportunity to generate kills on co-op.  On my two co-op playthroughs (Normal and Legendary), this level ranked #1 in kills per minute.
• Level 10 had the highest rank in points per minute per person on co-op.  On Legendary Solo, Level 8 had the highest rank in points per minute.
• Level 4 "Night Fall" and Level 10 both start out with good opportunities to work on the "If They Came to Hear Me Beg" achievement.  I got it on level 4, OD got it on level 10.

There's still a handful of Campaign commendations that I'm working on, so I'm happy to join folks in playing some Campaign if people are interested.  I'm consistently on-line every night from 10pm-1am.

Pro Tip: Get a New Bird

On the eighth campaign mission, New Alexandria, you can effectively request a new Falcon at any time.  If your plane has gotten shot up and is smoking, just set it down on any roof top or balcony and get out.  You will see a prompt that says "Call for emergency evac."  Hit down on your D-pad, and Kat will send up a brand new Falcon with two new gunners and you can continue right where you left off.

L4D2 The Passing DLC

Valve has discounted the price on the L4D2 "The Passing" DLC to 320 points, down from 560 points. This represents a discount from about $7 to $4. Good for this week.

If They Came to Hear Me - SPLAT

Posted at xkcd:

Clan night tonight. 8pm PT. Halo Reach.

We just brought the new baby home, so I will participate as best as I am able.  But expect that everyone else will be on.  Remember if that you are joining late, you can see the clan folks in your Active Roster.  Go ahead and join their party, even if they're in game.  This will queue you up to join and you'll automatically get added the next time they're in lobby.

You've Been BoomDizzled

Thanks to FishBone10 for sharing.

Snoop Dogg vs LL Cool J: The Ultimate Halo Smack Down from LL Cool J

Player Spotlight: Mean Mrs Monkey

Mean Mrs Monkey is one of our most active players, starting in the days of Left 4 Dead and continuing to this day in Halo Reach.  Per popular request, we sat down for a quick interview to find out more about her.

Q1: What's your name in real life?
A1: Kendall

Q2: What is your day job?
A2: Stay at Home Mom and Full Time Student at SJSU.

Q3: What's an interesting thing about you?
A3: I only learned how to play xBox about 1.5 years ago, before I had no coordination for the game.

Q4: How did you get into Halo and/or video games?
A4: I started playing it because MEAN MR MONKEY was playing it and encouraged me to after I got the hang of Viva Pinta and L4D.

Q5: What's your favorite thing about playing Halo?
A5: Honestly...now that REACH is out, I prefer it to all other Halos.  It seems to be a little easier for me to control my player because the jumping is "normal" and the movements are not as exaggerated which is really difficult for me. So just having a more normal play is what I like.

Q6: What's your biggest dislike about playing Halo?
A6: I think my biggest dislike is that I am so bad at Slayer, I try to play and try to get the hang of it but I think most people who are on have been playing since Halo [1] and so they have the game down and I am just running around trying to figure things out....makes for a lot of deaths for me.

Q7: Do you think it's different being a girl playing Halo?
A7: Uhm...yeah...when I play without the clan people are a bit more forgiving of my bad playing or if I betray them....because I am a chick.  But when I play with the clan I think I am just another one of the people playing and I am treated pretty equal...

Q8: Do you wish you didn't have to play split screen all the time?
A8: Yes.  We are going to be getting one of the new xBox's....we want to play on different TV's.  But I think that will be our Christmas gift to ourselves.

Many thanks to Mean Mrs Monkey for being a great sport and continuing to participate in the clan!

HR Weapons - Summary

Most of the weapons from the Beta appear to be largely unchanged, so I'll just link them here.  There are a handful of weapons that were not in the Beta, I will post details about them in the next few days.

New infantry weapons:

• HR: Covenant Weapons - Concussion Rifle (Type 50): This fires sparkly red stuff, the same thing that the Revenants fire.  Has a very similar damage effect to the Brute Shot.  It has a mild amount of splash damage, and also some "push" effect which can push people and vehicles around.
• HR: Covenant Weapons - Spiker (Type 25): The Brute Spiker returns in this game and functions just like it did before (albeit without dual wielding).  Is fully automatic and shoots projectiles, is a similar weapon to the UNSC Assault Rifle.
• HR: Covenant Weapons - Fuel Rod Cannon (Type 33): Carried by leaders or Spec Ops Grunts, the Fuel Rod Cannon looks slightly different than it did in previous games, but functions very similar.  Shoots green energy "grenades" and can do significant damage.
• HR: UNSC Weapons - Target Locator (H165): I've only seen this in campaign and Firefight so far (not in multi-player) but allows you to summon orbital rounds that obliterate the target area.  Is basically the "God button."

 New vehicle weapons:

• HR: UNSC Weapons - Automatic Grenade Launcher (MG460): The side turrets on the Falcon can be either chain guns or grenade launchers.  The chain guns are like all the other ones and can overheat.  The grenade launcher works just like the UNSC grenade launcher where you can fire and forget, or hold the trigger and release where you want it to explode.  Great for knocking Banshees out of the sky.
• HR: UNSC Weapons - ALA Cannon (M1024): The Sabre (space ship) comes with two types of weapons, an auto cannon and a set of missiles.  The auto cannons fire repeatedly and never overheat or run out of ammo.  They are excellent for taking down the shields on Seraphs and have a leading circle in the targeting reticle.  Press 'Y' to switch between weapons.
• HR: UNSC Weapons - Medusa Missile: The other weapon on the Sabre is a set of target-tracking missiles.  If you keep the reticle on a target long enough, it will lock and allow the missiles to automatically key in on the target.  Fires in a burst of 4.  Excellent for Banshees and for Seraphs after their shields are down.

Previously profiled Covenant weapons:

• Plasma Grenade
• Needler
• Gravity Hammer
• Plasma Pistol "Green Gun"
• Focus Rifle "Laser Beam"
• Plasma Repeater
• Energy Sword
• Plasma Turret
• Needle Rifle
• Plasma Launcher "n00b tube"

Previously profiled UNSC weapons:

• Bullets
• Spartan Laser
• Sniper Rifle
• Chain Gun
• Shotgun
• Rocket Launcher
• Assault Rifle
• Combat Knife
• Frag Grenade
• Magnum
• DMR
• Grenade Launcher "Pro Pipe"

HR Maps - Boardwalk

Boardwalk is one of the new maps that wasn't in the Beta, click below images for huge.  It's an asymmetrical map that we've seen in Territories.

 Key weapon locations:

• (A) Human Sniper Rifle #1 - This is on the small half wall where the bottom team spawns
• (B) Human Sniper Rifle #2 - This is on the ground up in the balcony where the top team spawns, or where territory 4 is
• (C) Shotgun - This is either on the ground or leaning against the wall
• (D) Plasma Launcher (n00b tube) -This is on the ground at the bottom of the stairs, or where territory 1 is
• (E) Rocket Launcher - This is on the underground catwalk, near one of the re-spawn points

 Close up screenshots of weapon locations

HR: Armor Abilities - Summary

For those of you who weren't paying attention, or just don't bother reading the blog, I have previously described the Halo Reach Armor Abilities in painstaking detail.  As I have time, I'll start posting more info about the new abilities, new weapons, new maps, etc.  People who leave comments may be able to influence what gets posted first.  The Armor Abilities from the Beta are unchanged, as far as I can tell, so for those, I'll just link them here:

• Armor Lock - Makes player invincible but immobile
• Sprint - Allows player to run fast but unable to shoot
• Jet Pack - Allows player to fly but is slow and loud
• Active Camo - Makes player invisible but jams their own radar
• Evade - Allows Elites to dive roll but unable to shoot

There are two new Armor Abilities in the Beta which are, frankly, pretty awesome:

• Drop Shield - Allows player to deploy a bubble shield
• Hologram - Sends out a virtual version of the player as a decoy

The blog is not only searchable, it also has a label cloud.   Look at the bottom of the right column and you'll see a ton of words.  Clicking on any of them ("armor" as an example) will show you all the posts that have been tagged with that label.

Xbox Live 12-Month Gold Promotion: $29.99

In alignment with Halo Reach launching, Microsoft is running a 12-month Xbox Live Gold promotion for only $29.99.  This is HALF OFF what it will cost starting on November 1.  You can purchase this even if your current subscription is still active, it will just add on to the end.  I just did it, and got an e-mail that the new 12-month membership will be active starting April 5, 2011, when my current one runs out.  Just fire up your Xbox 360 and the offer should show up as one of the featured promotions.  This offer is active now and runs until Monday, 9/20.

Single Player

Another from Penny Arcade.

Playlist: Grownups

Posted on Penny Arcade today.

Clan night tonight. 8pm PT. REACH.

zomgstfuwtfitstimeforhaloreach!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Get on-line fools.  We'll be dropping Xbox Live party chat and using the in-game chat so that we can pick up friends and listen to team mates.  We'll keep this model until the on-line banter gets too annoying.  Remember that you can always mute people not in your party or your team if you'd like, just check your audio preferences.

Reach Midnight Campaign Run

Starting now starring gtdroptop, OmniscientDeath, Fishbone10 and TimMAY 1023.  We'll have an Xbox Live party running if you'd like to pop in to say hello.

SPOILERZ ALERT!!! Campaign Preview

Some more clips from the campaign with Bungie staff voiceovers. Note that there are major campaign spoilers in here, watch at your own risk.

How Very Headshot-y

SWAT on Countdown.

Reach Falls in 6 Days

There's some new info posted up at Bungie's Reach page.

• Fiction: In the CAA Factbook there's more details around the fiction of Halo.  One interesting tidbit is a page about piracy and space pirates.  I have to assume this comes into play in the story of Reach.  The ODSTs are also mentioned.
• Noble profiles:
• Noble 1: Carter (S-259), Commander, DMR, natural leader
• Noble 2: Kat (S-320), Lt. Commander, AR/Magnum, girl
• Noble 3: Jun (S-266), Warrant Ofc, Sniper Rifle, chatty
• Noble 4: Emile (S-239), Warrant Ofc, Shotgun, sweet helmet
• Noble 5: Jorge (S-052), Chief Warrant Ofc, Chain Gun, old guy
• Noble 6: XXX (S-312), Lieutenant, AR, hyper-lethal lone wolf
• Ordnance:
• Details around the Fuel Rod Gun, Concussion Rifle, which hadn't been mentioned much before.
• Notes on the Revenant, a Warthog/Ghost cross-over and the Falcon, essentially a flying Warthog.
• All Armor Abilities are listed, including the hinted-at Hologram and Drop Shield abilities.

Mrs. Monkey is our only girl, so I guess a natural fit for Kat.  I can see Porter or BeerMonkeee as Jun, OD as Jorge, and norpo as Noble 6.  What do you think?  Who's your favorite?

Clan night tonight. 9pm PT. Halo 3.

Exactly one week to Reach.  We have a full team signed up for a midnight campaign run: gtdroptop, OmniscientDeath, TimMAY 1023, Fishbone10.  If there are others who want to commit to a 7 hour campaign run at midnight, have pre-ordered their game at a retailer open at midnight, and are looking for friends, I'm happy to help coordinate.

About blog usage

I want to be clear about one thing: This blog exists to bring together friends with similar interests, coordinate those friends in regular clan nights, and to distribute information that may be useful to those friends.  It is intended to be consumed either directly on the webpage of the blog itself or via an RSS reader.  It can be consumed via e-mail subscription, as a widget, or any million of other ways, but I have neither the time nor the desire to make it perfect for each individual's niche usage model.  I am happy to make a best effort to help.  But if you can't make adjustments to read it the way I intend, I'm not really willing to go out of my way to help you in your special situation.

I don't get paid to do this.  Nobody else does this for you.  I don't get anything from listening to your complaints.  And it doesn't make me feel very accommodating when you tell me that nobody reads it and then in the same breath bitch about how the formatting isn't perfect for you.

How Very ODST-y

Headhunter on a newly released map, Boardwalk.