Squeezing the Most Out of Your Setup

Now that Jon has enlightened everyone with the home setup of the pros, hold on to your seats - it's not over yet.


Wired controllers, low-rate TVs, headphones, and the like will all help your game line up the way it should. Low refresh rates on the screen you play on will make your shots fall as they should. Headphones will really internalize the audio and help you derive in-game cues. There's one thing that more appropriate hardware can't do for you, however, and that's improve your dexterity with the controller.

Controller settings are always a hot topic around Halo forums. What controller layout should one use for best results? What sensitivity?

Well, let's brainstorm. If much of this doesn't make sense, bear with me - it's 2 AM and I'm tired.

There exists a sort of "pro setup" that many players feel you must use to be "legit." Don't be fooled into thinking that if you aren't playing vibeless bumper jumper on a high sensitivity you aren't a good player. Yes, the most common sensitivity for MLG players is Bumper Jumper, 4-5 sensitivity, with no vibration. Let's take a look at this.

Controller Layouts

The controller layout is a very underused option for the casual Halo player. You may have never veered from the default setting, but give the others a try. You never know when you'll stumble on one that fits your style of play beyond all expectations. And with the options available in Halo 3, clawing is a thing of the past. (For those who don't know what I'm talking about, "clawing" was a technique popular in Halo CE and Halo 2 in which a player would turn their right hand to keep their index finger over the face buttons. This allowed them to jump, look, fire, and execute all of their actions with all of the necessary buttons right at their fingertips.)

- Default
Most likely, this is how you learned to play Halo. While the triggers and analogue sticks are perfectly functional, both your melee attack and jump require the shift of the thumb from the analogue stick to the face.

- Southpaw
"For lefties." Identical to the default setting except that the triggers are switched, so the same problems and advantages apply.

- Boxer
In my experience, this seems to be the most popular control scheme for casual Halo players who consider themselves pro, if you catch my drift. Again, it's virtually identical to default, except that grenade and melee are switched. Meaning that the left trigger will melee and you'll have to press B to lob a live one. Being able to maintain your aim while throwing down a melee is a big plus, but you'll sacrifice aim to throw a grenade, which is an even bigger issue. If you're a CQC kind of player, I would suggest this, if it wasn't for...

- Green Thumb
Yeah. Up until maybe a few months ago, I used to live and die by green thumb. The difference from default is that melee and zoom are switched, meaning you'll click the left stick to melee and press B to zoom your weapon. You can fire, melee, and throw grenades without having to stop your aim. Once you get used to it your melee attacks will come like lightning. Up until I re-realized the immense value of the battle rifle, I didn't think it would get any better than green thumb. Which brings us to...

- Bumper Jumper
When it comes to high-level players, this is it, the end-all-be-all of Halo control schemes. If you're trying it for the first time, be warned, this differs from default more than any other scheme. You'll jump with the left bumper and melee with the right, while you'll reload with B and change your grenade types with A. It may sound jarring, but once you're used to it, you'll be able to aim, fire, throw grenades, melee, and jump without ever having to shift your hands. All of your crucial abilities are right at your fingertips except using equipment, but that isn't nearly a frequent enough command to be a deterrent.

- Walkie Talkie
I've never actually heard of anyone using this. Left bumper will initiate your team chat while right bumper will melee. Meanwhile, B reloads, X changes your grenades, and equipment is used with up on the D-pad. Honestly, I can't think of any advantage to adjusting to this control scheme. It uses your most crucial buttons for less-than-crucial actions, putting your important stuff even farther away. But there it is.

Whichever route you choose, try to avoid this:


Stick Layouts

The stick layout options offer a couple different ways for you to use your thumbs. I've never known anyone to use anything besides default, but if your left-handedness is hardcore or Halo is your first FPS since Doom, these options may alleviate some frustration. I guess.

- Default
The default settings have the left stick for movement and the right stick for looking/aiming. I learned FPS playing Doom and Quake just like everyone else in my era and this feels totally natural.

- Southpaw
"For lefties." Again. Yes, Southpaw is a variant of both the control layout and the stick layout. For the sticks, it's the same as default only the two are switched. So you'll move with the right stick and look with the left.

- Legacy
This feels like the old PC FPS from the early 90s. Pushing the left stick forward and back will move you back and forth while left and right only look as opposed to strafe. The right stick will strafe laterally as well as adjust your vertical look. Again, I've never heard of anyone using this. But if you just can't adjust to analogue sticks that function more dynamically than the arrow keys on a keyboard, maybe this will help.

- Legacy Southpaw
Same as legacy, only the two sticks are switched. As if legacy wasn't confusing enough.

So those are your options. What's the best you ask? None. Or all. You may read all about what settings are favored by pros, but the bottom line is that it's all personal preference. I'm a bumper jumper guy, but there are pros that play default. A great deal of casual players love boxer controls.

And that leaves sensitivity. What's the best? Even moreso than the various control options, it's preference. People can recommend using difference control schemes to enhance different aspects of your combat control, but no sensitivity is any better than the rest. The most common amongst MLG players is 4-5. I'm a 5 myself. A lot of XBL players like to go high, in the 7-10 range. But it's all up to you. Choose whichever one gives you the best, most balanced control over your weapons. One suggestion, however - going below 3 will have a huge impact on your turning speed. If you get attacked from behind, don't expect to be able to turn and react in a timely manner.

Also, a word on vibration. Using the HD audio through headphones will give you the highest-quality in game cues in conjunction with the on-screen visuals. That said, vibration is unnecessary. You won't need your controller to rumble to know that someone just threw a nade at you; you'll probably see it, and if not, you'll definitely hear it, with direction to boot. Vibration will only further antagonize your hands. The last thing you need in maximizing your game is your analogue sticks vibrating everytime you shoot or get shot. It may seem like a slight detail, but believe me. Every little detail will add up over time.

Now, the boring stuff ends. Hopefully you'll use this technical information to your advantage and didn't fall asleep reading. I know the specifics of the non-screen aspect of the game can be dry and uninteresting, but it's all necessary in the quest to master Halo. The next post should be back to the good stuff, so expect an annotated gameplay video. Fiddle around, get some practice in, and we'll see you in matchmaking.