They should handle the perks differently if they keep them at all. To begin with, they should NOT be present in competitive Halo. Make them all potential "traits" active in a checklist for customs so that we have the option to negate or activate as many as we please. If we want Resupply Dexterity Stability Awareness Slayer to be competitive, go for it. They also shouldn't be given the on-disc DLC treatment with regards to core gameplay. Bring back red Xs, don't make a perk for it. Don't fucking bring back Promethean Vision and introduce a counter-perk for it. Make them all available from the start, too. Make Specializations just give you weapon/ordnance/armor skins, nothing gameplay-changing. Just call the Armor Mods, put them in a single custom games Player Trait category, and don't allow them in loadouts. I think primary/secondary weapons, grenades, and an armor ability are enough to worry about.
In addition to this, they should make more specialization tiers, but just let them unlock armor and restrict them to like 5 levels, or even make different specialization difficulties. For example, bring back the 8 with their armors included and make them Easy Specializations that only require 5 levels. Add some Normal ones and canonize them if you have to - add Gunslinger, Marksman, stuff like that, that require 10 levels. Make Heroic have some of the better armors, with one or two more obscure legacy sets thrown in - have Locus, Hayabusa, things like that, taking 15 levels. Then pull a Reach with difficulty and add in Legendary Specializations and make them include all the good past armors like Mark V and take a whopping 25 levels. Set up right you could even make it go up to SR-500 or something but still have it not affect gameplay; people would be sticking around in their hundreds just because, hopefully, the game would be fun. It wouldn't be viewed as a grind, you'd just be naturally earning the armors you wanted first. Please 343. Don't read this and then make Instant Respawns and Ordnance be perks in Halo 5. Microsoft needs a good punch in the dick every once and a while to set them straight.