Halo 4 Weapons Guide

Microsoft has released Halo 4 weapons guide videos explaining the many different weapons and how to match them to your skill level. Check them out to choose your favorite weapon! Also included is a Halo 4 weapons list of UNSC, Covenant and Forerunner weaponry.

Halo 4 Weapons Guide

Halo 4 UNSC Weapons

Take a look at the huge arsenal of UNSC weapons at your disposal in Halo 4. Fans should recognize a few favorites plus some brand new tools of desctruction, like the Sticky Detonator!

Here’s a list of weapons specifically crafted by the United Nations Space Command.

  • Assault RifleWeapon Description: Can hold 60 Rounds. The MA5D ICWS is an exceptionally resilient gas-operated, magazine-fed, automatic rifle designed to execute close-quarters combat with lethal efficiency, regardless of hostile counter-op environmental conditions or duration of use in the field.
  • Battle RifleWeapon Description: Can hold 32 Rounds. The BR85HB Service Rifle is a gas-operated, magazine-fed, semi-automatic rifle optimized for three-round burst firing, and proven to be an extraordinarily versatile weapon at a wide variety of ranges in the hands of a capable marksman.
  • DMRWeapon Description: Can hold 15 Rounds. The M395 DMR is a gas-operated magazine-fed marksman rifle that maintains a smart-linked, telescopic, rail-mounted sight for scout personnel. This rifle favors mid-range to long-range combat, offering impressive stopping power.
  • MagnumWeapon Description: Can hold 12 Rounds. The M6H Magnum is a semi-automatic, recoil-operated, magazine-fed handgun and the standard personal sidearm of all branches of the UNSC post-2555. This weapon is surprisingly effective at reasonably long distances, proving its universal value in the field. It is the standard sidearm in the UNSC.
  • Sniper RifleWeapon Description: Can hold 4 Rounds. The SRS99-S5 AM is a gas-operated, magazine-fed, semi-automatic sniper rifle with exceptional accuracy and the ability to simultaneously breach both energy-shielding and high-density armor, making immediate kills nearly effortless when this weapon is properly utilized.
  • RailgunWeapon Description: Can hold 1 Round. Powerful linear accelerator that fires explosive rounds at tremendous speed to efficiently eliminate targets.
  • SAWWeapon Description: Can hold 72 Rounds. Squad automatic weapon used in protracted engagements where sustained or suppressive fire is required.
  • Sticky DetonatorWeapon Description: Can hold 1 Round. The M363 RPD is a low-profile single-shot weapon that launches a magnetically latched explosive, which the operator can remotely detonate when at a safe distance. Although previously manufactured in low quantities, this weapon’s size and ease-of-transportability has made it ubiquitous in the years which followed the Covenant War.
  • ShotgunWeapon Description: Can hold 6 Rounds. Dominant close-quarters weapon specializing in boarding actions, breach maneuvers, and urban operations.
  • Rocket LauncherWeapon Description: Can hold 2 Rounds. The M41 SSR MAV/AW is a portable, twin-tube, shoulder-fired rocket launcher, capable of firing two 102mm rockets with incredibly destructive potency. It is easily one of the most pervasive explosive weapons within the UNSC’s arsenal, largely due to its transportability and firepower.
  • Spartan LaserWeapon Description: Can hold 5 Rounds. The M6 G/GNR is a semi-automatic, shoulder-fired, smart-linked nonlinear rifle that projects a superheated beam of energy which is undeniably effective at destroying both enemy personnel and vehicles. Design for this weapon occurred in parallel with the GUNGNIR-class of Mjolnir GEN1 armor, resulting in the informal name ‘Spartan Laser.’
  • Target DesignatorWeapon Description: The H-295 Target Designator is a secure-linked, forward observer module that can perform firing acquisitions on any selected targets, calling in close-fire support. This support can come in a variety of forms despending on the area of operation and the proximity of the target.
  • Machine GunWeapon Description: The M247 Heavy Machine Gun is an air-cooled, gas-operated, drum-fed automatic weapon which is primarily used from a full-range, tripod-mounted position, although it can be removed from its mount and hefted into battle if the operator is physically capable.
  • Frag GrenadeWeapon Description: The M9 Fragmentation Grenade is a standard, high-explosive, dual-purpose grenade that is extremely effective against personnel, particularly those who are dug-in or fixed behind cover, due to its ability to ricochet around corners.

Halo 4 Covenant Weapons

Watch the entire arsenal of Covenant weapons in action on two of our War Games maps, Exile and Haven. Fans will recognize many returning favorites including the devastating Gravity Hammer!

Here’s a list of weapons specifically crafted by the Covenant.

  • Plasma PistolWeapon Description: Can hold 100 Battery. The T-25 Plasma Pistol is the standard sidearm for most Covenant infantry. Typically used as a semi-automatic, directed energy pistol, this weapon’s scaled burst functionality allows it to fire an overcharged collection of plasma, temporarily incapacitating the power systems on both armor and vehicles.
  • NeedlerWeapon Description: Can hold 24 Needles. The T-33 Needler is a compact, fully automatic guided munitions launcher that breaks off shards of chemically-charged crystalline. The shards home-in on sighted targets with specific heat signatures, impaling the targets just prior to simultaneously and violently detonating.
  • Storm RifleWeapon Description: Can hold 100 Battery. The T-55 Storm Rifle is the evolution of the standard Plasma Rifle and served various infantry during the violent Sangheili civil conflicts that followed the Covenant War. The weapon now includes a modular coil set, a high-mounted cooling shroud, and an extended barrel, all contributing to greater overall performance in the field than its predecessor.
  • Covenant CarbineWeapon Description: Can hold 18 Rounds. The T-51 Carbine is a recoil-operated, semi-automatic, charger-fed marksman rifle capable of firing ballistic rounds at significant range. It is somewhat unique among Covenant weapons in that it is not dependent on superheated plasma or other energy-based material, but rather fires radioactively charged ballistic projectiles.
  • Beam RifleWeapon Description: Can hold 100 Battery. Extreme-range sniper rifle, charging ionized hydrogen gas into a lethal beam of accelerated particles.
  • ShadeWeapon Description: Can hold
  • Concussion RifleWeapon Description: Can hold 6 Rounds. Similar to other Covenant mortar weapons, firing explosive bolts of plasma at close-range to mid-range distances.
  • Fuel Rod CannonWeapon Description: Can hold 5 Rounds. Typically used against heavy armor by launching charged fuel rods which violently detonate upon impact.
  • Energy SwordWeapon Description: Can hold 100 Battery. The T-1 Energy Sword, exclusively wielded by Sangheili, is a close-engagement weapon intended to express its owner’s personal skill, clerical honor, and combat viability. The blade is composed of superheated plasma and folded against magnetic lines extending from its hilt, effectively creating a razor-sharp martial weapon with lethal functionality.
  • Gravity HammerWeapon Description: Can hold 100 Battery. Crude yet formidable close-range Brute weapon, substantially improved by way of a powerful gravity drive.
  • Plasma CannonWeapon Description: The T-52 Plasma Cannon is a fully automatic directed-energy weapon, typically mounted on a gravity-synched fulcrim tripod with the capacity for a full range of fire. A capable operator can even decouple the cannon from the mount and carry it into combat.
  • Plasma GrenadeWeapon Description: The T-1 Plasma Grenade is the Covenant’s primary explosive, which, when triggered, becomes engulfed latent plasma, allowing it to cling to specific heat signatures before violently exploding on a timed fuse. This grenade is particularly useful against vehicles, as targets with larger silhouettes are more susceptible to the explosive’s adhesive properties.

Here’s gameplay showing how to level up the Beam Rifle.

Halo 4 Forerunner Weapons

In this last weapons montage, you get to see all of the Forerunner / Promethean weapons in action on the Solace and Complex multiplayer maps. All of these are brand new additions to the Halo universe.

Here’s a list of weapons specifically crafted by the ancient Forerunners.

  • BoltshotWeapon Description: Can hold 10 Rounds. The Z-110 Boltshot is a close-range particle dilator designed for precision-based infantry combat against organic material. Has precision at mid-range and its burst functionality works well when up close. The Forerunners began using weapons like these towards the end of the first century of their prodigious conflict with the Flood, and continued to do so till its conclusion two hundred years later.
  • SuppressorWeapon Description: Can hold 48 Rounds. The Z-130 Suppressor leverages a classic coil set architecture, accelerating charged bolts of hard light energy at high speeds towards enemy personnel. This fully automatic weapon eventually proved to be an integral part of the Forerunners arsenal when battling the Flood but remains incredible useful against any and all organic material.
  • ScattershotWeapon Description: Can hold 5 Rounds. The Z-180 Scattershot is a prominent Forerunner channel weapon that was used for close-range defense toward the end of their war with the Flood. While practically unstoppable up close, the most remarkable attribute of the Scattershot is its schismatic dispersal effect, drowning confined hard-surfaced interiors with brutal, ricocheting beams of energy.
  • LightRifleWeapon Description: Can hold 36 Rounds. The Z-250 LightRifle was originally designed to achieve precision-based sniping with light-mass componential particle acceleration. The overall effect of the weapon is impressive, accurately firing a collection of hard light particles towards a target at incredible speed for mid-range to long-range combat.
  • Binary RifleWeapon Description: Can hold 2 Rounds. The Z-750 Binary Rifle leverages the power of twin, core-mounted particle accelerators, offering the ability to neutralize most enemies, even those of considerable mass, with a single shot. The Binary Rifle was specifically designed to deal with the threat of the Flood, allowing infantry to snipe at extreme ranges with unparalleled accuracy and stopping power.
  • Incineration CannonWeapon Description: Can hold 1 Round. The Z-390 Incineration Cannon is a shoulder-mounted munitions launchher that fires a high concentration of explosive particles along multiple streams, typically generating obliterative results. Such a weapon is equally effective against single enemy combatants and vehicles.
  • Pulse GrenadeWeapon Description: The Z-040 Pulse Grenade is a field-generating attenuation device used to damage any targets which fall within its ionization radius, eventually collapsing in a violent and deadly pulse of energy. This device appears to have been used to clear locations where the Flood had sufficient room to gather, organize, and grow, such as the vast redoubts formed during the parasite’s Coordinated Stage.

I think that’s all of them, but please comment if you’ve found any other powerful weapons in Halo 4.

Which of the Halo 4 weapons is your favorite?