BioGoji's Rebalanced Halo 2 Campaign: Silver Edition mod

For the best description, here is the info taken directly from the ReadMe file:

BioGoji's Halo 2 Campaign Mod

[As of 03/01/2020]

This mod aims to rebalance Halo 2's campaign and make it feel more like Combat Evolved, while still keeping it challenging and fun. Many weapons have received an increase in their maximum ammo reserves, and some weapons have seen their damage outputs increased a well. The Master Chief and the Arbiter both now play very differently from one another, with different Health and Shield stats, along with a slight increase in movement speed for the Arbiter.

I would like to state that many of the changes in this mod are influenced by Ruby's Rebalanced Halo 2 Campaign and TBiesty's Rebalanced Halo 2 Campaign. Certain levels have had enemy encounters altered to be similar to those found in their mods as well. Ruby and Tbiesty, if you're reading this, thank you for the inspiration... and please don't get mad at me for steal-I mean, "borrowing", some of your ideas. Also, just like Tbiesty, I have changed the order of the final 4 levels so that Uprising and High Charity are switched around, making for a more logical level progression.

However, one of the most important reasons for these changes is a simple question: Can I, or anyone else, play through this game on Legendary... without dying? In Halo: Combat Evolved, it is entirely possible to play through the game on Legendary and not die, as long as the player is smart with their decision making and learns from their mistakes. In Halo 2, by contrast, the game often sets up enemies that you won't ever see coming until it's too late, and you are forced to learn their spawn points through trial-and-error and hope that you're fast enough to hit them before they're ready to strike.

So, one of the main goals of this mod is make it so that the player is able to go through it on Legendary without dying... and without using any cheats, skulls, or exploits (like shortcuts to avoid firefights).

PLAYER HEALTH AND SHIELDS

Master Chief: 50 points for Health, 100 points for Shields. Health Stun and Recharge Rates are Default. Shield Stun and Recharge Rates are Default.

Arbiter: 60 points for Health, 90 points for Shields. Health Stun and Recharge rates are 5 seconds stun and 2 seconds recharge. Shield Stun and Recharge rates are 3 seconds stun and 1 second recharge. Movement speed is higher than the Chief because of the lower shields and increased Guidance vs Player listed below for Arbiter missions.

GLOBALS

Enemy Damage Output Percentage: 0.5 on Easy, 0.75 on Normal, 1.0 on Heroic, and 1.0 on Legendary.

Enemy Recharge: 1.5 on Easy, 1 on Normal, 0.75 on Heroic, and 0.5 on Legendary.

Enemy Vitality: Unchanged on all difficulties.

Enemy Shields: Unchanged on all difficulties.

Friend Damage Output Percentage: 0.5 on Easy, 0.75 on Normal, 1.0 on Heroic, and 1.0 on Legendary.

Friend Recharge: Unchanged on all difficulties.

Friend Vitality: Unchanged on all difficulties.

Friend Shields: Unchanged on all difficulties.

AI Firing Rates: 0.75 on Easy, 1.0 on Normal, 1.1 on Heroic, and 1.25 on Legendary.

Guidance vs Player: Chief gets 0.25 on Easy, 0.5 on Normal, 0.75 on Heroic, and 1.0 on Legendary. Arbiter gets 0.3 on Easy, 0.6 on Normal, 0.9 on Heroic, and 1.2 on Legendary.

WEAPON CHANGES

UNSC WEAPONS

Battle Rifle: Damager per bullet is now 8 points, making it 24 points total for each burst, similar to the 25 points of Combat Evolved's M6D Pistol. The maximum ammo reserve has also been increased to 360 rounds, and the weapon is now fully automatic, firing burst after burst if you keep the trigger held down. Projectile speed has been increased from 400 to 800 world units per second. To balance this out, the weapon has a fire recovery rate of 0.36 seconds, with a soft recovery fraction of 0.2 seconds. The weapon also now uses error when unzoomed.

SMG: Has an increased ammo reserve of 600 rounds, 1200 when dual-wielded. Has increased accuracy when single-wielded. Damage per bullet is now 6 points. Damage reduction when dual-wielding has been removed, but for balance, accuracy when dual-wielding has been set to the same error angles as the MA5B Assault Rifle of Combat Evolved: 2 - 6, so open fire in staggered bursts for best effect at a distance.

Magnum: Now does 15 points of damage per bullet. Ammo reserve has been increased to 120 rounds. 240 when dual-wielded.

Shotgun: Has increased range and accuracy. Default range was 8 world units. New range is 40 world units. Ammo reserve is now 60 rounds. Projectile speed is 240 world units per second, error angles are at 1 - 3.

Sniper Rifle: Now does 105 points of damage per bullet, and bullets can detonate explosives. Has an increased ammo reserve of 40 rounds. Projectile speed is set at 1600 world units per second. Air damage is the same as Combat Evolved.

Rocket Launcher: The maximum ammo reserve is now 8 rockets as it was in Combat Evolved. The weapon has received no other changes.

Frag Grenade: Has an increased blast radius and consistent damage output of 150 points across the board... except for boarding, which is unchanged from vanilla settings.

COVENANT WEAPONS

Plasma Pistol: Now does 16 points of damage per regular bolt. Overcharge bolt does 70 points damage max, has had its general damage effect changed to plasma_slow, and EMP is now a side effect, making the overcharge useful against unshielded opponents again. The regular bolt's firing sound has also been changed to that of the Plasma Rifle, because I honestly feel that the vanilla firing sound is... weak. Its projectile speed and tracking ability are now exactly the same as Combat Evolved as well. The Plasma Pistol has been returned to its former glory... when single-wielded.

Plasma Rifle: Now fires similar to Combat Evolved, being capable of firing one bolt per shot while still being fully automatic, with a recovery time of 0.05 seconds. Bolts now have a slight stun effect again as well, stunning opponents for 0.07 seconds per bolt. Projectile speed has been decreased from 14 world units per second to 10 world units per second.

Brute Plasma Rifle: Has had its firing rate increased, its projectile speed has been altered so that it starts out at 16 world units before slowing down to 8 world units per second, and it now fires 2 bolts per shot to differentiate it from the regular plasma rifle, and it overheats slightly faster per shot, while also having increased error angles, causing it to become more inaccurate the longer it fires. Both Plasma Rifles do the same damage per bolt, however, as both weapons share the same impact damage tag.

Covenant Carbine: Now does 12.5 points of damage per slug, and has an increased ammo reserve of 180 rounds.

Beam Rifle: Has an increased battery life. Damage per beam has been changed to 50 points, with a slight stun effect. I apparently suffered a brief period of insanity when I made these changes, although because I have altered the scenarios of several missions to make the Sniper Jackals appear less frequently, I believe this is a fair trade, especially when the player can now survive being shot at least once on Legendary anyway.

Needler: Has an increased ammo reserve of 300 needles. Can fire one needle at a time by gently tapping the trigger, but it still functions as an automatic weapon. Damage values have been drastically altered, however, for the supercombine and single needle detonation. A single needle does 5 points of damage when detonating. The supercombine now only does 150 points of damage, but it now has an EMP effect with the ability to detonate any explosives within the supercombine's own explosive radius, which has also been increased to 1 world unit. Also, needle projectiles now have 90 degrees angular velocity, meaning they track as accurately as they did in Combat Evolved. To balance this out, however, I have slowed down their travel speed to make them easier to dodge, both for the player and the AI.

Brute Shot: Has an increased ammo reserve of 24 grenades. The explosion of the grenades is also specifically set to kill Flood as well.

Fuel Rod Gun: Has an increased ammo reserve of 50 fuel rods. The weapon's projectiles now also feature a very slight arc, similar to the fuel rod of Combat Evolved. The projectiles also travel faster as well.

Plasma Grenade: Has an increased blast radius and damage output, with the addition of an EMP effect.

FORERUNNER WEAPONS

Sentinel Beam: Has a longer battery life.

VEHICLES

UNSC VEHICLES

Warthog
-Chaingun: Chaingun bullets now do 7.5 points of damage.
-Gauss: Has a slight EMP effect and does more damage on impact. Gauss rounds now travel at 180 wrold units per second.

Scorpion Tank: Moves faster than in vanilla and has an increased damage output. Also, the tank shells now travel at 250 world units per second and do upwards of 200 points of damage on impact and 350 points of damage for the explosion.

COVENANT VEHICLES

Ghost: Plasma guns now fire simultaneously as they did in Combat Evolved.

Spectre: Remains unchanged.

Shadow: Remains unchanged. I wanted to make it so the Player could board it, but this caused the Elites driving it to always end up walking whenever the Player finally reached the Shadow in the tunnel section of Outskirts. So, I made it unusable for the player in order to fix this.

Wraith: No longer has boost. Plasma turrets are now usable by the player. Base movement speed has been increased as well. The charging effect for the Wraith's mortar cannon has been restored as well.

Banshee: Plasma guns now fire simultaneously as they did in Combat Evolved. The Banshee Bomb also behaves more like its Combat Evolved counterpart as well, with identical stats for its projectile.

AI CHANGES:

UNSC MARINES: Marines now have 80 points of health on all difficulties, but it regenerates to 100% unlike the 25% of the vanilla game, meaning they can potentially take as much damage as the Chief. They also have weak shields (IE their armor) that also regenerate as well, making them last longer on higher difficulties... unless they get hit directly by explosives or are caught within an explosive's blast radius, which will kill them instantly 90% of the time.

Marines (Male & Female): 80 Health and 20 Shields on Easy, 80 Health and 50 Shields on Legendary.

Marine Sergeants: 80 Health and 30 Shields on Easy, 80 Health and 60 Shields on Legendary.

Marine ODST: Share Health and Shields with Sergeants.

Marine Dress (Cairo Station): 80 Health and 5 Shields on Easy, 80 Health and 20 Shields on Legendary.

Johnson: 100 Health and 50 Shields on Easy, 100 Health and 80 Shields on Legendary.

ELITES:

Elite Minors: 100 Health and 50 Shields on Easy, 100 Health and 125 Shields on Legendary.

Elite Majors: 100 Health and 75 Shields on Easy, 100 Health and 150 Shields on Legendary.

Elite Ultras: 100 Health and 125 Shields on Easy, 100 Health and 200 Shields on Legendary.

Elite Zealots: Share Health and Shields with Ultras.

Elite SpecOps: Share Health and Shields with Ultras. Their armor is also now totally black.

Elite Rangers: 75 Health and 75 Shields on Easy, 75 Health and 75 Shields on Legendary.

Elite Stealth: 75 Health and 10 Shields on Easy, 75 Health and 40 Shields on Legendary. Their armor is now a lightish blue/cyan color.

Elite Stealth Major: 75 Health and 20 Shields on Easy, 75 Health and 50 Shields on Legendary. Their armor is now a dark green color.

Elite Honor Guard: Share Health and Shields with Ultras.

Heretic Elite: 100 Health and 20 Shields on Easy, 100 Health and 50 Shields on Legendary.

Heretic Elite Major: 100 Health and 40 Shields on Easy, 100 Health and 70 Shields on Legendary.

Heretic Leader: 100 Health and 70 Shields on Easy, 100 Health and 100 Shields on LEgendary.

GRUNTS:

All Covenant Grunts remain unchanged from their vanilla values.

Heretic Grunt: 45 Health on Easy, 60 Health on Legendary.

JACKALS:

Jackal Minor: 45 Health and 75 Shields on Easy, 45 Health and 150 Shields on Legendary.

Jackal Major: 45 Health and 125 Shields on Easy, 45 Health and 200 Shields on Legendary.

Jackal Sniper: 45 Health on Easy and Legendary... because I hate them.

HUNTERS:

200 Health on Easy and 500 Health on Legendary.

On levels that feature both Hunters AND either the Fuel Rod Gun or the Banshee, Hunters will fire a charged fuel rod projectile like they did in Combat Evolved. On levels without the Banshee or Fuel Rod Gun, Hunters will fire their new standard beam gun.

DRONES:

Drones can now be killed with headshots.

BRUTES:

Brute Minor: 120 Health on Easy, 150 Health on Legendary.

Brute Major: 130 Health on Easy, 160 Health on Legendary.

Brute Captain: 150 Health on Easy, 180 Health on Legendary.

Brute Honor Guard: Shares Health with Brute Captain.

FLOOD:

Flood Combat Elite: Remains unchanged. Shielded forms no longer appear.

Flood Combat Human: Remains unchanged.

Flood Carrier: Upon dying, they now release 16 Infection Forms instead of a mere 5.

Flood Infection Form: these guys can now climb on any surface, just like in Combat Evolved.

Flood Juggernaut: 1000 Health on Easy and Legendary. Because Juggernauts do not have death animations, I have set them to explode into about 36 Infection Forms upon dying, while their body disappears. This was the best work-around I could find.

SENTINELS: These guys remain unchanged.

THE PROPHET OF REGRET: Um, I tried to make him vulnerable to headshots, but I don't think it worked.

SPECIFIC LEVEL CHANGES

THE ARMORY: Nothing. Nothing has changed in this level.

CAIRO STATION: The Player starts out with 2 Frag Grenades on all difficulties. Certain enemy spawn points and weapons have been changed to let the player fight a greater variety of Covenant forces and ranks than in the vanilla game, while ODSTs are now present and alive in certain locations.

OUTSKIRTS: A couple of the warthogs are now Gauss Warthogs. Some of the Jackal Snipers have also been replaced with either regular Jackals, dual-wielding Elites, or Drones in certain locations. There are also more Marines fighting the Covenant in various parts of the city to give a greater sense of scale to the conflict taking place. Also, there are TWO special guns hidden in the level. Oh, and there's a Grunt with a Rocket Launcher taking the place of at least one Jackal Sniper. Happy hunting!

METROPOLIS: Not much has changed in comparison to the previous level. The number of Marines you encounter in the tunnel is slightly increased, and certain Jackal Snipers have been either replaced with normal Jackals and/or other or have been replaced with other enemies entirely. For instance, the respawning Jackals in the park where you exit the tunnels have now been replaced with either Heavy Grunts or Elites, depending on the spawn point and difficulty.

THE ARBITER: Heretic forces now wield a larger variety of weapons, as influenced by Ruby and Tbiesty's rebalanced mods.

THE ORACLE: Not much has really changed... except that the Heretic Leader's holograms no longer do any damage to the player. For this, I directly copied the method that Ruby of Blue used in his Rebalanced mod.

DELTA HALO: Player starts out with extra ammo for Rocket Launcher and SMG, with more ODSTs fighting alongside you. Various Jackal Snipers have been given carbines in place of Beam Rifles.

REGRET: The number of Marines that start the level with you has increased dramatically. Most of the Honor Guards defending Regret also wield swords, because the sheer number you'll be facing off against will already make the fight difficult enough without having to worry about dodging dual-wielded plasma rifles. As with the previous level, some Jackal Snipers have had their beam rifles replaced with carbines.

SACRED ICON: The player now has a couple of Specops Elites on their side at the beginning of the level. Also, much like Ruby's mod, the player will fight against Marines at various points.

QUARANTINE ZONE: As with the previous level, the player will fight against Marines at various points in the mission. Also, certain Flood-controlled Wraiths have been replaced with Covenant-controlled Wraiths, once again inspired by Ruby's mod. You also have more Elites fighting alongside you on the final Gondola ride, as influenced by Ruby's mod.

GRAVEMIND: The player now starts with both the Needler (fully loaded) and an SMG with limited ammo, along with some frag grenades. Once you've used up the UNSC gear, there are no replacements, so use them wisely. Also, more Covenant units fight among themselves to add a greater sense of civil war, with Jackals sometimes fighting alonside Elites and against other Jackals, Hunters fighting everyone and each other, and so on...

HIGH CHARITY: The Flood Juggernaut is encountered by the player. The Juggernaut lacks a death animation, so as a work-around, it spawns numerous infection forms upon death, while its body is destroyed. Also... it can only be killed by explosives. Fortunately, there is a Rocket Launcher near the Juggernaut's spawn point. Unforunately, the Juggernaut's spawn point is BETWEEN the Player and the Rocket Launcher. Have fun!

UPRISING: A small number of Jackals (including snipers) are now on the player's side, while some enemies have been changed around.

THE GREAT JOURNEY: Hunters in this level use the Banshee bomb instead of their particle beam. The Player also encounters some friendly Marines in the section where the Councelors are being held captive as well.