Fixing Halo 2's BROKEN Legendary Difficulty - Halo 2: REBALANCE

[@Kaesides]

The moniker of "Rebalanced" is underselling your work to be honest. "Reforged" seems more appropriate for how much effort you're putting in.

[@Clippychinw]

I think reforged was already a title of a mod

[@gabethebabe3337]

Halo 2 Combat Evolved

[@TheStrayHALOMAN]

@@gabethebabe3337 The way it should have been and even bungie agreed when they made ODST and Reach to be more like CE. Sage said himself that he missed CE's gameplay.

[@Bizargh]

I kept calling it "Ruby's Renovated - Halo 2" whenever I'd pop on the development streams, because when you see what has been done to scenarios, encounters, environments & the additional assets, it goes so far beyond rebalancing the sandbox that the planned 'Main Version' (As you see here and will be arriving on the Steam Workshop) truly does make "Ruby's Rebalanced - Halo 2" a total understatement (I recall it being said that a 'Lite Version' is planned, much like for 'Ruby's Rebalanced - Halo: Combat Evolved', that will only include the balance & quality-of-life changes and be released elsewhere such as NexusMods, but whether this one will be just as compatible with Anniversary isn't something that I can say from memory).

[@A-G-F-]

Yeah, i saw that intro and this isnt a "re balance", this is a whole ass re-work of the game

[@norsethenomad5978]

Bro is like reverse Infernoplus. Instead of making the game unbelievably cursed, he makes it unbelievably blessed

[@twilightopey]

I fucking love the new magnum reload animation

[@theholygamer969]

Now that, I haven't seen yet. Color me intrigued.

[@levthederg]

I really hope we get partial reloads in the Halo 3 Rebalance update.

[@messer7450]

@@levthedergholy shit from c con sir?

[@levthederg]

@@messer7450Yes, tis I. C-Con's biggest simp for True Stalker and Back to the S.T.A.L.K.E.R.

[@emilylefebvre646]

9:50 Something to bear in mind with Halo 2's hud is that it was designed around the 4:3 aspect ratio, glancing to the corner of your screen is much more efficient in 4:3, and the decision to keep the shield bar up top in the center was probably made to accommodate for 16:9

[@jokx4409]

I'm honestly speechless. I'm having trouble coming up with something to say to express how great and amazing the work you're doing is. This isn't a player saying "yeah it would be much better if it was that way", no this is a guy who researched why things were that way, and if they were things that had to be fixed, removed or enhanced, based on the original vision of the game and what the devs would do if they saw it today. This deep dive is so deep that you're almost becoming a game designer with this. I loved halo rebalanced and it felt perfect in every way and to see you do the same, if not MORE for halo 2, with a video series entirely dedicated to explaining the changes, why they were made how they were made and the mindset behind it. And the fact that you're also putting a ton of effort to make THOSE videos as high quality as possible, even though they're a side thing to the mod itself. I am speechless. There is no one I trust more in this community to make a "definitive" version of a halo game. You're not just changing stuff, releasing a mod and telling us vague things about what you changed, no, you tells us exactly what you change so we're aware of those changes when we get into the game so we can adapt our perceptions of weapons and enemies so we're not too surprised. This shows absolute confidence that most people will agree with you because you spent THAT long refining it. I really hope this paragraph does justice as to how amazing what you're doing is. And I'm pretty sure a lot of people would agree with me on what I said.

[@mokibomo]

Very much agreeing with this post. I would go so far to say that I think he's a game designer. He certainly documents, uses terminology and has a very thoughtful method to doing his work - some good hallmarks of a good designer.

[@hadriscus]

not just almost, it's literally game design

[@darktoonlink2k145]

I could not have said it better myself

[@nicolae-alexandruluca7853]

Indeed, we modders have the the fans in mind and what we do is for the fans as well

[@chozochiefxiii3298]

The struggle of wanting to be a mod is coming up with something good. Game design is fun and interesting, but you have to make something worth playing. It should be as simple as "make something you would want to play." However it's not, you have to think of the potential players, leading to scaling back on creative decision making and what you feel is best for the game.

[@WolfEpsilon]

_The Great Rebalanced Is nigh, and nothing, not even the flood can stop it._

[@luistailsprower3051]

Boo

[@intranube]

People like you an your team SHOULD be in charge of the franchise. If 343 doesn't hire you guys, please consider making your own game, seriously. With your modding quality reputation and game balance expertise you should be able to deliver amazing games that'll definitely sell given the sorry state of modern halo and the hunger of fans for a "halo" succesor that doesn't try to suck every dollar of their fanbase's wallets.

[@trashmann9971]

He would be utterly squandered at 343, or pretty much any AAA dev currently operating. The gaming industry has no lack of passionate talent, just one look at what game devs make compared to other types of software devs should tell you that much. The problem is a pervasive and industry-wide culture that breeds utterly incompetent leadership.

[@Wuunderboy]

​@@trashmann9971incompetent leadership but also talentless workers that get their feelings hurt when people with talent tell them their ideas suck

[@Player_Redacted]

I just found your mod for CE last night, and it was an absolute blast to play. Hands down the most fun I've had replaying CEs campaign in years. Looking forward to 2 and 3 whenever they're ready.

[@Wuunderboy]

Whenever Halo 3 comes out. I just want the elites to be perfected. There were barely any elites in Halo 3 and they were all so weak slow and clumsy. I wish Bungie just kept the exact design of elites from CE in both 2 and 3 with just an additional animation here and there to hold a new weapon or whatever.

[@walkings7ick58]

This was an awesome video and i love the style you are going for so keep up the good work.

[@primusvsunicron1]

definitely continue this new series when doing H3R and beyond

[@jacobgale4792]

I hope if they do H3R we get Covenant Separatist allies like Grunts and Hunters like Bungie initially wanted to do

[@akramhaouam9943]

H3R is already a thing

[@primusvsunicron1]

@@akramhaouam9943 the old version doesn’t work with current MCC

[@akramhaouam9943]

@@primusvsunicron1 ohhhh ok I get it now

[@Wuunderboy]

​@jacobgale4792 agreed!! Green armored hunters and green armored grunts alongside marines will be amazing!! Also I really would like the elites to be redone from the ground up. They're too slow and weak and very clumsy. I prefer Halo CE elites in every way. Like this kzbin.info/www/bejne/gorUhXyqn9-VZs0si=jhCwarBWk9icYADj

[@NanoScream]

Coincidentally, how you described Halo CE's balancing framework is the same way that DnD 5e works. You have X amount of encounters that is meant to dwindle the Party's resources until they're at a disadvantage forcing a long rest at the cost of time or something worse or push on until someone dies or there's a TPK due to running out of resources.

[@programmer6394]

When Halo has been methodically destroyed over than last 12 years, people like you are the only pillar that keeps the game afloat before slipping into the abyss. I appreciate your conservative approach to the game and only adding reasonable changes where most modders go over-the-top and add DMR's and 343i weapons to the games without consideration to balance. Your rebalanced CE felt like reliving the experience all over again like I was back in 2001 playing CE for the first time again. This has been the most exciting Halo anything for me since Bungie left. Well done and thank you for your efforts!

[@kachebelka3416]

To be fair I thought infinite was actually a pretty large step in the right direction. The multiplayer was garbage and that’s unacceptable, but the campaign is honestly really fun, especially with a friend, and I actually felt some attachment to the characters. Chief felt like a nice inbetween of his OG badass version and his newer emotionally driven self that still felt really cool but could still be down to earth sometimes. And at the very least the multiplayer seems to be doing pretty well for itself now. Again not trying to make excuses for how it launched, that was a major fuck-up, but at the very least they seem to have gotten their shit together, and hopefully they do better with the next game. Overall leagues above what 343 has put out so far

[@programmer6394]

@@kachebelka3416 I didn't mind some some of the characters. For me, the campaign felt like a poor rendition of Far Cry. Your allies felt bland in their dialogue and oyu couldn't take them on missions. Co-op wasn't implemented until later despite 343i's promises. The reliance on equipment felt like it was too liberal in usage.Despite my mixed opinion of Reach's armor ability mechanics, those seemed better in balance than Infinite's. Enemies on higher difficulties felt like I was fighting souped up Destiny bosses that were frustrating to fight. I always liked Halo's semi-boss fights with named foes being short, but difficult. Infinite boss fights were drawn out and ramped up to increase play time. Also, I was hoping for a conclusion to the Banished with Spirit of Fire coming in to help the survivors out. Admittedly, I htought that Infinite's ending in the sand dunes was just the halfway point, but I was wrong. I do think multiplayer feels better than anything 343i's has put out, but was grossly neglected. No forge, firefight, player collision, maps, the boring weapon placement system (I liked how older Halo games felt like the weapons were placed there and not spat out of a container or platform). At the end of the day, it improved in very little and lackluster issues post launch I knew were coming. I predicted Joe Staten was just a marketing ploy and they were going to toss him not long after launch. At the end of the day Halo's failures are largey the result of poor mismanagement from 343i's uppers and Microsoft. The min-maxing of live service is what makes a fortune these days and younger gamers don't realize this platform for business puts down their gameplay enjoyment. Even if they like the game, it could be so much more. Like it used to be. It's funny, but even Bungie knew what Microsoft wanted to do with Halo once they left. People like Marty told us what happened and it continues to do so. All I can say is, people like Ruby of Blue are the only thing holding Halo up for me. I stopped playing Infinite before season two ended for the most part. I feel better not playing than I did. Regardless, I respect your opinion of the game and agree with some of it; maybe one day we can both get what we want from the series.

[@NebLleb]

Oh shut up, you Biased Bungie Boy! People like _you_ are why the series has fallen off. Yes, the Reclaimer Saga was a disaster and the TV show sucks, but it's *your* behaviour that keeps on driving potential fans away. I KNOW you're gonna rant about how "343i was formed to DESTROY Halo!" in a response.

[@masterofdisguise1112]

I can't wait. You're the reason I bought a PC. So I could play your mods.

[@QuarrelsomeLocalOaf]

The Covenant health pack model looks great, really nice work by Luna

[@thetakenusername1005]

As someone who is currently learning game development to make my own FPS game, I really love how you dived into the design of Halo, the way you explained it was really amazing. Also, as a side note, I like the design of your character. I really enjoyed playing your Halo 3 Rebalance in 2020 and I can't wait for this one to come out!

[@slogcat2085]

Ruby: My weapon sandbox has no bad guns Kaiba

[@LMG3000-s8f]

Just like the classic CE sandbox. Every weapon was effective in its own way if you knew how to use it properly.

[@gabethebabe3337]

Watching videos like this make me feel like I'm back in the early 2000s watching the old ViDocs. Can't wait to play. I'm just as excited for this mod as I am for Elden Ring's DLC

[@Wuunderboy]

I feel the same way lol

[@Toast_94]

Your avatar has a very early 2000s style to it. It's so appropriate for the nostalgia factor of the channel and I love it. :3

[@lionocyborg6030]

Very Oni if you ask me, which is fitting as Bungie made that game too. Marathon as well as Marathon Redux uses cool anime art for when in-game characters appear on terminals which fits Marathon’s tone & aesthetic really well, like the 80s/90s cartoon ones for Tyrian & Strife respectively did for those games.

[@Toast_94]

​@@lionocyborg6030 I didn't know about those but that's really cool! I was thinking of the Yugioh anime (the eyes, jacket and hair are very reminiscent) which had its start in the late 90s into the 2000s. I was watching it a ton around the time that halo CE and 2 came out.

[@SeraSmiles]

​@@Toast_94That character design is straight out of Yu-Gi-Oh duel links

[@Wuunderboy]

Early 2000s Yu-Gi-Oh Y2k aesthetics are the only way to work on things from that era lol

[@Fiendzy]

Normally when people ask for likes and subs I wince, but you obviously deserve as many as you get and then some. The passion you put into your projects are ever so inspiring. I’ve been lurking for the longest while; you and your team rekindled my joy for halo (campaign)

[@cristobalvillarroel2618]

I remember playing the original rebalanced for halo 2 custom edition a few years ago, I can´t wait for this version to be ready for the mcc :D

[@Substitube]

That time editing paid off, man!! The new displays and avatar are crisppp

[@TheChiefOrg13]

It's really cool to get all these insights into the development/game design process, props to you!

[@prototyler30]

This level of attention to detail for gameplay makes me SUPER excited to play the rebalanced mod! Thank you so much for putting an immense amount of effort into making the overhaul so great! Cannot wait to play day one!

[@ArthurArtorius]

thx for balancing most of the halos also nice OC and art styles

[@MeowMeowMeowMeowMeowMeowMeowww]

That Thumbnail, man. This is probably the first time i saw someone drawing a Halo 2 Jackel, that is good looking, without changeing there overall appearance. Good Job.

[@lucasdelgado7532]

Thank the gods. I needed this. Can’t wait to rewatch it 20 times!

[@OralandXGaming]

Im so excited for this, you're so thoughtful with how you are rebuilding this i cannot wait to see tue end result. Keep up the good work Ruby.

[@NeightrixPrime]

It's crazy how bad AI enemies have become over 2 decades. Almost every developer just makes sacks if HP holding a gun that can barely navigate the environment much less react to player actions.

[@TheRomanTribune]

Halo CE NAILED Ai

[@NeoKaiser0]

Adding regenerative health to Halo (and games in general) really killed so many FPS games while encouraging bad gameplay behaviour across the board. I'm glad to see it back in Halo 2, as I'm still waiting for that true sequel to Halo 1. Also funny thing about your commentary on the health pack for the Covenant as that was the same conclusion I came to when I made a Halo 2 video 10 years ago lol

[@MintyLime703]

Your mod for Halo 2 was the most fun play through I ever had of the game. I've been waiting to be able to play it again.

[@jasong3798]

Fuck modding, get this man on the development team for the future halo titles. Ruby could bring Halo back and he’s proved that by making something so great even better.

[@theholygamer969]

Bad idea. He'd be eaten alive by 343/ Halo Studios' working environment. Besides, they'd force him to compromise good ideas for the sake of predatory business practices.

[@lionocyborg6030]

Psyched for the next update video! Will the cut content being included also include the warthog run in High Charity? That’s one of my favourite cut parts besides the OG space jump (sans covenant space durian), extended New Mombasa & Forerunner Tank. I especially love the massive grav lift jump during said warthog run: it reminds me of a similar tunnel in one of Shadow the Hedgehog’s Space Colony ARK levels except that one was a lot shorter & we used Shadow’s version of a banshee instead of a hog.

[@gub4941]

If I could play this mod, but with the cut warthog run that vengeful vadam restored would be awesome

[@Wuunderboy]

Also the two scarabs at the end of the great journey and some other Uncut stuff like flood juggernauts, holding a broken stationary gun like a regular gun , etc.

[@kinghoodofmousekind2906]

It was great to see the inner workings of the Halo games and see you tinker and improve Halo 2's gameplay. Godspeed!

[@Stone-faced]

8:42 holy cow good leap little grunt

[@Dylan-p9z9o]

this is so cool I'm so excited halo 2 was my favorite game but it was so hard i never got the full enjoyment out of it so your making this game worthy of being mine and others favorite thanks

[@applesaurusrex8075]

the first H2R version is one of my favorite mods of all time and i’m very excited for this version of the mod

[@DandyDNA]

I'M IN LOVE WITH THIS! Halo CE has the best flow for me so this seems like the Halo 2 we always needed. I think putting active camo in Arbiter levels is unnecessary, but it would be great to put them around in the early Master Chief levels to help make Arbiter's on-demand camo seem super cool. Once you get to Delta Halo I'd be extremely conservative with placing active camo pickups in Chief's levels (if at all)

[@Determ1nat1on]

This is shaping up to be far above & beyond any of us expect. I'm so hyped!!

[@WilliamOLaw]

You shouldn't forget to remove the checkpoint reload when a player dies on MP legendary

[@texel76]

Someone already made a mod for that. Said mod would be compatible with H2R once is released

[@mhmtakeyatime9000]

​@@texel76That's pretty dope.

[@kabob0077]

At least 343 themselves got rid of the SP mission reload on Legendary...

[@aarongallagher6954]

So glad you are going for the halo 1 style of combat with health and such.

[@Enaccul]

Thanks so much for the work. I vastly prefer the health system and AI of CE, and I honestly forgot that there weren't powerups in Halo 2! Can't wait to try this out, CE's difficulty was my favourite.

[@Xamsims]

Great stuff, really enjoyed CE rebalanced. Looking forward to playing this one!

[@InnuendoXP]

10:00 - oh man I remember the low detail textures being the biggest downgrade! I was so wowed by specifically CE's texture detail with legible text on objects, visible ammo counters on NPC AR's, detail texture maps like granular rock & brushed steel - and the bump mapping. Normal mapping was NOT worth it IMO - I was like "why does everything look like blurry clay?"

[@harbingerdawn]

That wasn't (the only) reason for the downgrade, H2 also had a wider variety of objects on screen at any given time, which means more sets of textures need to be used simultaneously, while still being capped to the very restrictive amount of memory on the Xbox. There was just no way to facilitate that increase in variety, AND add normal maps to non-environment materials, without drastically reducing texture resolution. Axing the normals alone wouldn't have been enough to get things back to H1 levels of detail, though it would have helped.

[@InnuendoXP]

@@harbingerdawn yeah, though despite all that it feels like CE had much more variety overall in terms of visually distinct environmental tilesets even if nearly everything was static & reused over & over. Outcome of working within narrower scope & limitations from the outset maybe. Edit: oh and how the level design became far more like just a big series of corridors. Sure CE was also largely that, but it did a better job of presenting itself as 'not' being that.

[@harbingerdawn]

@@InnuendoXP Yes, the creative and intelligent ways that Bungie made use of H1's limited asset pool and Xbox's limited memory were masterful, I still find myself being impressed with it on a regular basis even after 22 years. It was a master class in art style and design and maximally-effective use of things like detail textures, which gave most of its environments higher texture detail than the anniversary graphics of CEA 10 years later.

[@TheHutDave]

The amount of work and love in this video and mod it's absolutely stunning. It feels like to see again an old Bungie Vidoc, same passion, same fuel, same hype. When it comes to the final part with the fixes for the burst fires of the enemies, i don't know why, but a genuine smile formed on my face. Thanks so much Ruby. You and others are carrying on the legacy of Halo. ❤ go on

[@beatle7809]

I recently replayed halo 2, and collected the skulls. The game is much easier than I remember. But I think that’s because I’m 25 now instead of 8 and can handle legendary while also having fun. I’ll still die to dumb things though.

[@Zman6258]

My one concern with the return of healthpacks is the same concern I felt on occasion while playing Halo CE Rebalanced - if you've made one too many mistakes before a combat encounter and head into that encounter with only one health pip left, your options are severely hampered by the fact that your shield becomes the only level of survivability you have, and the majority of weapons used by your enemies are plasma weapons... which are even more effective vs shields in the rebalance. This can lead to a lot of the same frustrations as i think you're attempting to avoid, where instead of push/pull being a central part of the game flow, you can land in a situation where a bad checkpoint in an area with no healthpacks forces you down that same route of cover-peeking to gradually whittle down at your enemies while instantly dying if your shield gets dropped by the much more effective plasma weapons, because you have no health buffer left. Funny enough, I think Halo Reach solved the issue perfectly with health thresholds. If you manage to disengage from a combat encounter on one pip of health left, you get that feeling of "oh man I'm glad I escaped that one by the skin of my teeth", but your minimum health slowly recharges to a limited extent; you always have some level of a health buffer as a safeguard against instantly dying when your shield pops, but because your health doesn't FULLY recharge, you still have to deal with the fact that you have much less of a "budget" to spend on aggression or making mistakes. On paper, I'd love to see a similar slow, limited health regen, likely something that takes a bit longer than shield recharge and only refills two pips of health.

[@RubyofBlue]

It falls on the designer to regulate placement of health packs to frame the challenge of mission segments. There needs to be a balance between giving the player opportunities to refill their health in preparation for the next big section, but also limiting their placements- as a good challenge in a game has the most weight and is most rewarding to master when there are tangible consequences for poor play. Being forced into the 'pull' state for being reduced to 1 bar of health, is that consequence. This mod will help me further determine what the sweet spot in that balance is. 😀 Regarding the other thing, I didn't really boost plasma damage vs shields in CER. In OG CER, my CE mod, and now in H2R, plasma (and every other damage type) is fine-tuned to be fair vs player shields and player health, independently of the broader plasma vs shields dynamic. Worth noting too, health in H2R recharges up to about 17.5% once falling below that threshold.

[@Zman6258]

@@RubyofBlue Excellent, happy to hear it's being well considered! For what it's worth, really the only significant areas that presented that problem in CE:R were areas with a high number of the new Jackal Majors; five or six enemies wielding plasma rifles tend to melt through your shields pretty damn quick, and due to Halo CE's much more primitive projectile magnetism not prioritizing the hand and their inconsistent stagger, it could be frustrating at times to pop them out of their formations without losing a bar of health every time you peek on Legendary. Not having a grenade felt like a bit of a health tax at times.

[@christopherpeelerii9700]

@@RubyofBlue will i be able to play this without steam

[@primusvsunicron1]

@@christopherpeelerii9700sadly no

[@N7_Bunny]

I love the h3 color on the halo 2 unsc weapon.

[@charleswinters9567]

This mod should be named Halo 2 Extended Edition. Because after watching the LotR Extended Edition, you can never go back to the theatrical cut.

[@drcgamer6]

I've played your rebalanced mod of CE. It's certainly a vast improvement over the original Halo CE. I hope to see the same for Halo 2. Definitely make us aware when you have a release date in sight. I'd be eager to play this.

[@alnsng]

More in-depth Halo 2 Rebalanced analysis videos like this please! 🙏🏽

[@robertfranklin422]

You are the Great Hero, as always. Big thank you to you and your team!

[@Hazard8663]

Halo 2: Definitive Edition

[@tpd1864blake]

This was fun to watch on Patreon. Gonna watch it again to jog my memory

[@wasdwazd]

Halo 2 is a more accurate Spartan 3 experience than Halo Reach

[@TenthSgtSnipes]

Ruby: “halo 2 is a cautionary tale of over ambition” Also ruby:

[@Joe-xq3zu]

Hubris is a cowards word!!

[@samlathem2793]

He has infinite time, hindsight, and newer hardware. Bungie did not.

[@mokibomo]

I admit when I saw the title, I felt hairs raising in my neck until I saw the "(and not)" and felt understood after a lot of hours playing Legendary and doing what I call 'the vehicle missions' in Halo 3/ODST and 2. You are genuinely my favorite Halo modder and content creator in the same sphere. I rarely see someone research and take the time to put such passion and careful thought behind their work. It is incredibly inspiring to hear where and why you do the things you do, because I believe most Halo fans - and gamers in general - don't usually listen to GDC talks and hear out the original devs on what made Halo the way it is. I've played Halo all my life and have never quite dug into it, so your sources and references are twice as incredible. I was admittedly hoping to hear something more exact on why I am experiencing so much frustration when I play through vehicle-heavy missions in the game, perhaps that is a video for another time, because I do think it is legitimately the worst part of playing Halo on higher difficulties. Wraiths never miss, Ghosts shred you in seconds with laser accuracy and the 'push and pull' don't work as it should since you don't take cover as you do on foot. I could go on but a comment has to end somewhere. Thank you for what you do.

[@ToaDrakua]

He'll definitely get into that when he gets around to vehicles, I'm sure of that. One thing I'll spoil, though, is how fundamentally tied to the driver's health vehicle durability is. Moment a Banshee shows up with an Ultra behind the wheel, it's eating a hilarious amount of Tank shells.

[@mokibomo]

@@ToaDrakua Thanks, that does explain a lot honestly..

[@cordedquill4286]

Can't wait to see the video where you go into more detail about the changes you made when you're done with Halo 2 Rebalanced!

[@elevenution]

My world elevates with every full release of a Ruby Rebalanced. I'll try and support forever.

[@theholygamer969]

> Sees single-wield SMG ammo capacity is back to 600 like the MA5B Thank the Lord! My second-favorite gun model didn't have NEARLY enough ammo to be viable in Vanilla H2. Now it has plenty. Don't know how I didn't see that the first time I saw this video. And his livestreams revealed that he's already added an ODST Silencer/Scope rendition, too, with tighter accuracy. I am the happiest man alive.

[@TheJadeFist]

Legendary was a blast back in the day though. It really wasn't that hard with a few exceptions such as the 1 shot from snipers always killing you and sometimes the game auto saves a check point right as you're about to get shot by one lol, and a few spots where it's a bit rough to get through when you might not even have the ammo to kill the over powered enemies.

[@RickySama240]

This was a great watch. Always love seeing videos of this rebalanced H2 that i look forward to! 😀😁

[@Austinuztantine]

Doing gods work Ruby! Been following you for a couple years!

[@Countdoopoo]

You did it again ruby, you made my favorite halo game even better. Can’t wait to try it!

[@Aurum100]

Love it! Hope you take a similar approach to H3's health system. ^^

[@n2sno.1fan8]

Awesome video. Me and my friends can't wait to try this mod.

[@ximbabwe0228]

Saying Halo 2 legendary was "designed" is very generous

[@mikelnazkauta1317]

Hell yeah! Just finished Halo CE Rebalanced last week. Can't wait for halo 2

[@freshysaml]

Can't wait to play this mod! Also, I love the design of the Covenant med-pack.

[@CharliReef]

speed boost power up would be sick

[@johnparker8376]

I am looking forward to when I finally get to play the Halo 2 I was excited for all those years ago. Loved your CE mod.

[@jimmyjohnson501]

So excited, best of luck!

[@TheOnly01Gee]

I’ve been following this this for ages. Been so looking forward to rubys rebalance 🔥🔥🔥

[@denizo9263]

we're so back.

[@zecaoalfredo4242]

Been playing rebalanced ever since i got into Halo and your analysis of the series just makes me want to come back and play halo again. Thx for your work! Btw, your Resident Evil videos are also really good

[@aidenhughes2472]

Oh my god he's alive

[@graye2799]

Took a year and a half, but better late than never. Nice to see you still working on it.

[@duffelpuffelmcduff1181]

Ruby. I love you and everything you do. Never stop!!!

[@BaxterAndLunala]

While the Covenant medkit feels a little out of place, especially since Elites feel it is extremely dishonorable to use one, it still fits the lore quite well for Grunts and other Covenant races. As for why the Arbiter would use them, he feels like he lost his honor when he became the Arbiter in the first place, it makes sense. It's the same reason why he would UNSC weapons in Halo 2.

[@RubyofBlue]

The concept of treating wounds being dishonorable wasn't introduced until Cole Protocol in 2008. The opposite is even demonstrated in The Flood where a high-ranking Specops Elite is grateful to a Grunt for pulling him out of the battlefield and having his wounds treated.

[@BaxterAndLunala]

@@RubyofBlue I guess the medical treatment part is just from what a clan believes is dishonorable then, but touching human weapons is one thing that was universally agreed to be dishonorable by the Elites.

[@Colehkxix]

The Elevator Elite! ​@@RubyofBlue

[@theholygamer969]

​@@BaxterAndLunalaHuman weapons, eh? Well, it's no wonder the Arbiter is allowed in-game to choose to use UNSC weapons during H2. As far as he's concerned, being demoted to the Arbiter is a death sentence, so all he can do is survive for as long as he can, with anything he can get his hands on.

[@GamingAnimator1]

So when will this be on the steam workshop? I'm currently playing through CE REBALANCED and I love it!

[@VRHyoumaru]

Seriously can't wait for this mod to be released. Considering my excellent experience with Halo CE Rebalanced, I'm looking forward to learning to love Halo 2 again, because vanilla 2 is my absolute least favorite Bungie-era Halo title.

[@trisckit]

I never knew that Halo CE shields recharged faster at higher difficulties! What a small but impactful detail

[@YupYapTheGrunt]

Bungie would be so proud of you 😢

[@RickySama240]

It be really cool to see their reactions on major mods like Ruby's though. xD

[@mokibomo]

@@RickySama240 I agree. I would love to see them reacting to some user content, like some of them did when watching speedrunners!

[@RickySama240]

@@mokibomo True! seeing gameplay and providing commentary would be great!

[@Mhrtxn_]

Holy F❤❤K, those weapon models are really beatiful, i like glowing iron sights and that M6C magnum is just real sexy

[@jackgrove4621]

health refiling when hitting a check point. Could you not adapt the code for the black eye skull to suit that need?

[@mhmtakeyatime9000]

I think he already solved the issue with a custom "flag" in the script to disable it.

[@lalothewusky]

I am so eager for this mod, halo 2 is my favorite game ever and with how amazing ce rebalanced was. I am excited to see my favorite game get its own, for me it'd be cool if it had CE's graphics and aesthetic as well as the models and animations of npcs. I love halo 2 but I prefer CE's animations, models and graphics as tbh halo 2s if more rough around the edges than CE. When this mod comes out, I hope someone makes a trooper mod for this rebalance as CE's trooper mod has been a lot of fun. Imma admit, i'd love to play a CE marine in halo 2 >.>

[@stoneapollyon8313]

God i pray that i may someday be able to find a way to burn this into an actual halo 2 disc for my original xbox, i doubt it's possible but let me dream dangit.

[@Joe-xq3zu]

Hope you enjoy your slide show, cause the OG XBox would melt itself trying to play this mod with everything he's done with it.

[@Joe-xq3zu]

Oh hey I randomly decide to go back and watch the trailer again and you go and drop this right after!

[@KnoxCarbon]

Can't wait to see what else you've done

[@kpmh2001]

I've been looking forward to this.

[@SquattingxBear]

Can't wait to play this!

[@vaniellys]

Writing as I watch I never liked Halo 2 having the shield bar in the bottom left. I much prefer it in the top center, since it's where our attention is most of the time. Never liked how H2 and H3 hid player health. I don't think non-regen health is good for Halo, because of the damage system. When you're out of shields and at low health, it just makes energy weapons way too powerful. Keeping the red cross on healthpacks ? That is technically a real life war crime (according to the Red Cross) ! I love the Covenant health pack's design ! Damn, I had no idea about the burst mechanic ! There's so much going on in the game that's hard to see. I love that you're bringing back powerups ! Rewarding exploration is always a good mechanic.

[@SPITSPHIRE]

Its not a war crime to use the red cross, its just trademark infringement, as the symbol is owned by the international red cross organization. It _would_ be a war crime however to intentional shoot a person wearing the insignia of a medic who was giving medical aid on the battlefield. (in addition to being the worst and last mistake you ever make. As the saying goes, "dont mess with Doc".)

[@shiguriyamamo6730]

Man it kinda sucks how they copyrighted literally the most universal symbol of all time. It's like copyrighting the stop sign.

[@leetningvancleenf5843]

I hope I get to play this before WWIII.

[@nintendbro3275]

I just love how halo started fumbling the bag and instead of abandoning the series, the community just collectively decided to go balls to the wall in maintaining and rebuilding the good ones lol

[@theholygamer969]

Well, we can't possibly give money to a spiteful dev team that despises us, can we?

[@nulljeroka]

Incredible work. I won't use it as I'm one of the crazy people who actually want even harder and unbalanced difficult on Halo 2. But your work is amazing. Congratulations

[@mehemynxm6974]

half the fun of seeing you making these videos. It's awesome to see Bungies design philosphies analysed and explained.

[@IlogicalVulture]

I don't know how possible this would be, but an idea for the strange interaction between Arbiter's intrinsic camo and the new power up, it may be interesting to give Arby some sort of buff if you use them together. Maybe movement speed or something?

[@SmilingOrange]

There is so much more respect and passion in this mod than anything 343 has ever done.

[@Joe-xq3zu]

More intelligence to

[@paynt3770]

I'm going to say it again its been very funny watching you go from homosexual pokemon animation to halo modding. All your content is great.

[@hubee2407]

THAT'S WHY HE'S THE GOAT