I was reading a pretty good thread over on the r/Halo and they were discussing Auto-Aim and it's relation to distances and the various Rifle ranges.
So an awesome user "AWildGingerAppears" decided to go and do some research about what rifle is most accurate In range Vs. Out of Range and Scoped In Vs No Scoped.
Here is the information:
I'll go through the 4 precision weapons. For the purpose of this discussion, the term "
in range" describes when close enough for the reticle to turn red on target. Obviously, the ranges for each gun vary, and whether or not you are scoped will also affect the range of each gun. I tested each gun at the limit of their range (both scoped and unscoped) on Ragnarok as it has the largest open distances. I also tested each gun just beyond it's scoped and unscoped range, and also tested each gun unscoped at the limit of it's scoped range.
One side note on ranges: I'm sure most of you already know this, but I discovered is that the DMR has the furthest scoped range by a considerable amount. The Lightrifle is second, and the BR and Carbine are equal with the shortest range. I was pretty blown away by the difference in range of the DMR and Lightrifle; it's almost the same as the difference between the lightrifle and BR/Carbine. As far as unscoped ranges go, the DMR again has the furthest range by a considerable amount. Interestingly enough, the BR/Carbine are behind by a ways, and the Lightrifle is last. The difference between the BR/Carbine and Lightrifle ranges when unscoped is, however, so minimal it is barely comment-worthy.
DMRDMR (scoped, in range): The DMR will hit almost everytime if the reticle is red at all, regardless of whether the target is in the center. There is the slightest bit of play where the reticle will be red, but you won't hit. I was only able to micro-adjust to that position a couple times, and the reticle will actually flicker between red and blue. Shooting once was enough to move the reticle to either all red or all blue, and the shots would hit or miss from there on out. Chances are, if it's red, it's going to hit.
DMR (scoped, out of range): The DMR has a pretty large hitbox out of range. The target doesn't even need to be touching the inside circle reticle for the shot to connect. Something that I found interesting was an effect where if you hit once, it becomes even more forgiving and you can move the target further away from the center, still getting hits. If I started without hitting and tried to connect one of those same shots, it would miss. It has some sort of sticky targeting hitboxes?
DMR (unscoped, in range): It will hit if red, regardless of whether or not the target is in the center. There is also a tiny bit of play where you can hit if the target is no longer red. This is extremely minimal, and micro-adjustments in aim will make you miss, but it is there.
DMR (unscoped, out of range): This was a very weird one to test. It again has the "sticky targeting hitboxes", but they are greatly amplified. When shooting with the target in the center and moving your aim out away from him, the center reticle circle can be completely off, and the shot will connect if the previous shot did, but moving towards the target, you have to be filling most the center reticle before the shot will connect.
DMR (unscoped, scoped range): If the target is dead center when scoped, you will hit unscoped, but even if the reticle is red scoped, and the target is filling approximately half of the center reticle, the unscoped shot misses. If the target fills up more than half (~), you will hit.
Lightrifle (scoped, in range): The lightrifle will hit if the reticle is red at all. Regardless of whether or not the target was in the center of the reticle. I could not get it to miss if the reticle was red. As soon as the reticle is no longer red, however, it misses.
Lightrifle (scoped, out of range): While there is a little play in the amount of the center reticle your target must occupy, it is minimal. For the most part, the gun shoots straight down the center when out of range.
Lightrifle (unscoped, in range): Again, it will hit if red, regardless of whether or not the target is in the center. Like the DMR, there is also a tiny bit of play where you can hit if the target is no longer red. This is extremely minimal, and micro-adjustments in aim will make you miss, but it is there.
Lightrifle (unscoped, out of range): This seems to be the exact same as the unscoped, in range. This isn't surprising, as the distance to the target is pretty minimal. There was a minor "sticky targeting hitbox" effect.
Lightrifle (unscoped, scoped range): Like with the DMR, if the target is dead center when scoped, you will hit unscoped, but even if the reticle is red scoped, and the target is filling approximately half of the center reticle, the unscoped shot misses. If the target fills up more than half, you will hit.
BR (scoped, in range): The BR was extremely forgiving in range when scoped. There is a surprising amount of play where the reticle will be blue, but you will still hit.
BR (scoped, out of range): If the target is touching the center reticle circle at all, the shot will connect. There is a little grey area just outside this where sometimes the shots would connect, and sometimes they wouldn't, but since the BR has recoil, it was hard to say if it wasn't just moving into the target a little or not.
BR (unscoped, in range): Again, the BR is more forgiving in that the shots will connect if the reticle is just outside the target, but blue. This wasn't as apparent as it was when scoped, but it was still noticeable.
BR (unscoped, out of range): If the target is in between the two reticle circles, the shot is going to connect. The "sticky targeting hitboxes" also carried over here, too.
BR (unscoped, scoped range): If the reticle is red, and the target is filling ~1/3 of the center reticle circle when scoped, the BR seems to hit everytime. This is a little more forgiving than the DMR and Lightrifle, which both required the target to fill ~1/2 when scoped.
Carbine (scoped, in range): The Carbine will hit if the reticle is red at all. Regardless of whether or not the target was in the center of the reticle. I could not get it to miss if the reticle was red. As soon as the reticle is no longer red, however, it misses.
Carbine (scoped, out of range): The Carbine acts weird when out of range. If the target is occupying any of the center circle of the reticle, the Carbine will hit, but if the target is just touching the center circle, but not inside it at all, the Carbine rounds will pull over to the side of the reticle, like the other guns, but do not connect. You can see them offset, but they do not hit the target.
Carbine (unscoped, in range): Again, the Carbine acts weird. If the reticle is red, it hits everytime, but if the reticle is blue at all, the rounds pull over to the side, but again, they usually will not hit. It's like it wants to hit, and is being guided like the other guns, but won't connect. Occasionally, one connects, but it doesn't affect the next shot. The Carbine apparently doesn't have the "sticky targeting hitboxes."
Carbine (unscoped, out of range): The Carbine shoots relatively straight1 down the middle, regardless of whether or not the last hit connected. If the target isn't in the center, you are going to miss.
Carbine (unscoped, scoped range): The target must be occupying more than half the center reticle circle when scoped or your unscoped shots will not connect. Even with just over half the center reticle occupied, I found that some shots would connect and others would not. There was no "sticky targeting hitboxes" in effect. One shot connecting didn't have any impact on the next.
1) I say "relatively straight" because there is some minor play with the Carbine. It doesn't shot straight down the middle like the DMR and Lightrifle (scoped), but rather in a small area around the center of the reticle. It is seemingly completely random, and doesn't appear to suffer from bloom, but will still make some shots miss when you are on the edge of the reticle.
It was interesting to do this, and I found I continually had to go back to previously tested weapons to compare accurately. I tried to be as unbiased as possible, and report honestly, without any opinions influencing my word choice.
There was some more interesting stuff about the effects of Auto-aim and Magnetism, I can pull that over also if anyone is interested.
Also Gonna hop in and work on some clips I want to put into a instructional video about SWAT, But gotta get Luv gun to capture it, as I've got no capture ability, and no money to buy a capture device.
