Fans will be able to participate in the newest of the series’ famous competitive modes with the debut of Halo Infinite’s multiplayer. Even if you’re a seasoned Halo player, you’re likely to stumble a little when you first start playing Infinite. There are a lot of new and altered aspects in Halo Infinite that might be bewildering, not least the firearms. Many of the weapons are modernized versions of old favorites like the assault rifle and battle rifle. Others, on the other hand, are brand-new weapons or weapons that have had their ranges and functioning changed. While you’re in the middle of a match, figuring out how your new weaponry function might be a good way to get murdered by someone with greater experience.
We’ve put together a comprehensive guide to all of the firearms in Halo Infinite to help you understand how they work and how you should try to utilize them—whether up close and personal or at extended ranges. You can also try each pistol out for yourself in the Academy part of the main menu, which we strongly advise you to do. It’ll almost certainly save your life.
MA40 AR
The original assault rifle from Halo is also your default weapon and the one you’ll probably use the most. It’s a simple assault rifle that’s effective at close and medium ranges, slamming a lot of bullets on a target rapidly but spraying around a lot. The MA40 loses effectiveness at ranges beyond mid-range, but it’s a good gun for ripping apart an enemy shield and finishing the job at close quarters. As an opener or closer to a fight, pair the MA40 with a grenade explosion, and try to strike your opponent with as much of a magazine as possible. If you don’t stop firing and keep the gun on aim, you’ll be able to rip through Spartans with ease.
Pulse Carbine
In Halo Infinite, the Covenant plasma rifle from previous games, which was favored by Covenant Elites, reappears in a slightly modified version. The carbine has been redesigned to resemble the BR75 battle rifle, making it more accurate at longer ranges and simpler to use without overheating in the hand. The gun fires a three-round burst that tracks targets and is particularly effective at dropping shields, making it a good weapon to pair with a straight damage-dealer like the BR75 or Sidekick pistol.
BR75
The Battle Rifle from Halo 2 is returning in approximately the same shape as before. This is the marksman rifle variant of your assault weapon, which fires a highly efficient three-round burst at mid- to long-range. If you get enough shots on target, the BR75 may be used as a sniper; while it has trouble cutting through shields, it’s fantastic for long-range headshots and finishing off opponents. The BR is a fantastic weapon for clearing up opponents who are fighting your teammates in Halo Infinite, and you can also use it to chase them into cover, even if you can’t kill them.
VK78 Commando
The Commando is a brand-new weapon that sits in the middle of the MA40 and the BR75. It’s a more accurate machine gun than an assault rifle, but it lacks the battle rifle’s effective range. It’s fully automatic as well, but has a smaller magazine than the MA40, making it a superb mid-range weapon if you have good aim. You can tear people apart with the Commando with headshots at ranges where they’d have a hard time fighting back with the normal loadout, making it a good choice for bigger team fights. Just keep in mind that the Commando runs out of ammo rapidly, especially if you’re fighting opponents up close like you would with the MA40.
Shock Rifle
While there are many Covenant plasma rifles and the rare Sentinel gun in Halo Infinite, there is also a class of energy weapons that essentially discharge electricity. One of these is the Shock Weapon, which is essentially a lightning sniper rifle. The Shock Rifle and other electricity guns have the effect of chaining energy off your initial target and hitting neighboring opponents, so sniping into a group with the Shock Rifle may result in some collateral damage or even deaths. With the Shock Rifle, you can temporarily disable vehicles by zapping them. Headshots will knock out Spartans in a single shot, however the gun must recharge for a second between shots otherwise the damage will be reduced. Keep an eye on your targeting reticule for a slight pulse, which indicates that the shot is fully charged.
MK50 Sidekick
Your standard-issue handgun is a useful rangy addition to your loadout, allowing you to hit targets a little further away than your MA40 AR can. The Sidekick can fire swiftly and deal a lot of damage, and it’s fantastic for pulling up headshots on adversaries with shattered shields, just like the BR. Breaking those shields, on the other hand, is more difficult, especially because this is a semi-auto weapon. You can get some dependable kills out of this if you can squeeze the trigger quickly, but the Sidekick is exactly what it says it is: a backup sidearm.
Mangler
The Mangler is similar to the Mauler from Halo 3, and works in a similar manner. It’s a pistol-style shotgun, so it’ll go well with a longer-range weapon in your second slot. The Mangler is an extremely efficient close-range weapon, but its pellets spread out a lot when shot at distances beyond mid-range. It can fire quickly and has a large magazine, so as long as you can land your rounds, you should be able to maim adversaries with this weapon.
Plasma Pistol
Disruptor
The Disruptor is another electricity weapon that, like the Shock Rifle, benefits from hitting multiple opponents at once. The gun’s range isn’t very long, but it is fully automatic and discharges slowly, making it ideal for firing into a throng at a control point, for example. To cause significant damage, you’ll need some prolonged fire, so use the Disruptor as a backup gun or a weapon for a certain set of situations; don’t use it unless you’re alongside your fireteam. This, like the Shock Rifle, can be used against vehicles.
CQS48 Bulldog
The Bulldog is Halo Infinite’s most simplistic shotgun, but don’t expect it to one-shot other Spartans when you level it on their chests at close range. The Bulldog is a formidable weapon, but not too so, and it will take two to three bullets with the gun to bring down an opponent at close range. On the bright side, the Bulldog is an automatic with a sizable drum magazine, allowing you to keep firing until you do the job.
Heatwave
The Heatwave is a strange space shotgun, unlike the Bulldog, which is a fairly normal combat shotgun. By default, the shrapnel-launching weapon whips pellets in a straight, horizontal line, allowing you to damage many targets at once. When you press the aim button, you’ll receive a tighter, vertical spread that causes a lot more damage but needs a lot more precision from you. The pellets in the Heatwave also overpenetrate and ricochet a lot, so try firing it around corners or in tight places with a lot of targets.
Sentinel Beam
In Halo Infinite, the laser used by the Halo rings’ Sentinel robots reappears in a more powerful version. The Sentinel Beam allows you to spray a continuous stream of superheated death at a target, and it goes through targets like the Heatwave. That means you may fire it through Spartans to attack Spartans behind them, or through a Warthog’s driver and gunner while simultaneously causing damage to the vehicle. It can be difficult to line up the perfect angles in battle, but if you can catch adversaries in limited paths, the Sentinel Beam can be quite efficient in killing several enemies.
Needler
You’re familiar with the Needler. The most iconic weapon in Halo is a weapon that shoots pointed pink crystal needles that stick in their target for a short time before exploding. If you get enough needles in a target, it will die dependably, and the needles will track targets (as long as your aiming reticule turns red), assisting you in landing enough kills. The Needler isn’t really useful in Halo Infinite—the tracking isn’t fantastic, and it appears like you’ll need to place at least half the needles in a magazine to obtain a kill, so it’s not ideal for strafing foes or even at medium ranges.
Stalker Rifle
The Covenant’s re-imagining of a sniper rifle from previous games is the poorest of your sniping weapons, although it compensates with a longer magazine and faster shooting rate than the alternatives. It has two levels of zoom, like like the S7 Sniper, for enhanced long-range shooting, and it works against shields. To down a target, you’ll usually need three hits—more if you’re only landing body blows.
S7 Sniper
The S7 Sniper, like the MA40 AR, is virtually unaltered from previous games. The weapon has two zoom levels and is extremely strong and precise. A Spartan can be taken out with a single headshot, or two body shots. When you pick up a S7, there are just four rounds in the magazine and not much ammo in the ammo reserves, so make those shots count.
Skewer
The Skewer is a weapon that looks like a combination of a rocket launcher and a sniper rifle. It’s one of the game’s few one-shot weapons, but the good news is that hitting a Spartan anywhere with it will finish them out. The Skewer’s problem is that it demands pinpoint precision and takes an eternity to reload. Its projectile will also decrease as it travels, so you’ll want to practice shooting it to get a feel for how it arcs.
Cindershot
The Cindershot is a grenade launcher that comes quite close to being a full-fledged grenade launcher. Because the gun’s projectiles bounce and burst, you’ll want to aim short and bounce them toward your chosen target when firing from the hip. The bullets will seek a little instead of bouncing if you go to aiming mode, but they’re a touch fussy and take some getting used to when it comes to aiming. However, the explosion is quite massive and powerful, so use it to wreak havoc on a gathering of people.
Ravager
The Ravager is a strange weapon, resembling a Plasma version of a grenade launcher. It unleashes a powerful three-shot blast of plasma that arcs and falls, so you’ll want to practice with it to prevent accidentally shooting your Spartan targets in the legs. When you fully charge the Ravager—which takes a while—you can launch a larger blast that spreads scorching Plasma throughout all it touches, even the earth. This allows you to place devastating fire patches in strategic locations, such as control points.
Hydra
The device that fires explosives Hydra fires quick, straight explosive projectiles like a mini-rocket launcher. Keep in mind that the explosions aren’t as big or as powerful as some other explosive guns, and it’s best used by aiming at an enemy’s feet to try to catch them in the blast. When you switch to aim mode, the projectiles track enemies, allowing you to employ them more like missiles. The Hydra is effective against vehicles and groups if your blasts are placed precisely near people. It’s worth noting that reloading takes a long time, so have another weapon available in case you need to swap and keep fighting.
M41 SPNKR
The two-barreled rocket launcher from Halo is still one of the greatest. The launcher is the game’s largest and most powerful explosive launcher, and a single rocket will destroy a vehicle and instantly kill anybody within a large radius of the detonation. Before you have to reload, you receive two rounds, but you won’t get many rockets when you take up this power weapon. With the rocket launcher, you can aim and zoom, but the rockets it fires are dumb, so make sure your aim is on point before pulling the trigger.