The Art of Dual Wielding
At the dawn of Halo 2, people were pumped up about the new feature of dual wielding. After a while, a branch of people became frustrated with this ability, as it seemed to prove that any n00b that could point and shoot could be a weapon of mass destruction. These people moved on to other choice of weaponry, primarily a battle rifle or carbine rifle, and a plasma pistol, or also the fine art of sniping. These people broke away from dual wielding and condemned it for if they were the ones to have true skill, they would use a more tactical set of weapon class that truly did involve skill to execute effectively. Now at any given point in time, these people come in contact with a person dual wielding, there instinct is to realize that that person is less skilled than they are (n00b) and when killed by the the dual wielder, in there mind it is the ultimate disgrace to the game, and a huge embarassment to themselves. The fact of the matter is, dual wielding requires just as much skill as any single weapon combo requires. When you take a look at the pros and cons of dual wielding, you can see why dual wields, and combos both cancel eachother out in an equally balanced equation of fighting. Dual wields are primarily used for close quarters combat. The only dual weilds with moderate range that even has a chance of killing some one is dual magnums, magnum/plasma pistol, and if you're desperate, maybe even dual needlers. That being said if anyone carrying a BR within a moderate distance of a dual wielder is almost certain to get the kill before the dual wielder can even take shields off. To bring up the arguement that any noob can pull off a dual wield, this is also incorrect. Sure if a noob dual weilder gets the jump start on you with his smg plasma rifle combo, its very hard to take him over with a br, but its not impossible. But another fact is that if you get the first few shots off of anyone they are already at a huge chance that they will be the ones getting killed, and that goes without saying for any gun, dual weild or not. Dual wielding is not for the noob who is not skilled with a battle rifle, but rather, for the person who knows when they get in the face of a person carrying a battle rifle that it makes it a certain kill. But that's not to say a the BR has no chance close range. It takes an experienced person to be able to recognize and counteract the recoil of a dual wield while still keeping the reticule on the body or head. If even for a second they strafe away from the target, a BR will sieze this moment and cap the last headshot for the kill. Another trait that balances the 2 sides is the amunition and reloading factor. The BR is cabable of killing 3 people single handedly without any reloading, and possibly twice that many and more, with assistance. Alone, any dual weild may be cabable of killing an absolute maximum of 2 people before a reload. 3 With assistance, and 4 if you hit a miracle with double smgs or smg/plasma rifle. This is all because of the ammo and damage factor. Any dual wield involving a magnum can be very deadly, but if caught in the act of reloading, very fatal to the wielder. This of course being because of the short clip the magnum has and how many shots it takes to kill some one.The only exception to this rule would be magnum/plama pistol, but with the plasma shot recovery and recharge, it might as well reload every shot. And when you take a look at the actual reload time, BR can do it twice as fast as any dual wield, leaving a dual wielder completely vulnerable to a certain death if caught while reloading.

All of the things posted here I'm sure almost everyone knew already, but I hope that the way these facts are presented you see all the many aspects of these weapons. I'm not trying to convert anyone to a certain weapon setting. This article is strictly written for the sake of people being open minded to the use of any and all guns and gun combinations in this game and to also see that the gun you choose does not determine the level of skill that you have, but rather, the method of skill you choose to take. I hope you take into consideration all that has been said and try not to be to judgemental of a person solely upon there weapon choice. Unless some one is a rocket whore and nothing else. Then just bitch the hell out of him.