Halo/Printable version

Halo

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MA5B Assault Rifle

Magazine	60 rounds
Rate of Fire	Automatic
Primary Function	Assault weapon
Secondary Function	Suppressive fire

The MA5B is a bullpup configured, gas operated assault rifle. It fires advanced 7.62x51mm ammunition, normally using FMJ-AP(black copper jacket, tungsten core) bullets. It feeds from a four column, 60 round detachable box magazine. The MA5B is highly inaccurate, and only useful at short ranges(less than 25m)when fired in long automatic bursts due to vibration and barrel heating, but can be effective out to ~60m on point targets, and ~150m on area targets when fired in short bursts of 2-3 rounds at a time. The MA5B uses an integrated computer which displays the amount of ammunition left in the magazine, as well as the relative direction of designated reference points (such as the gas giant, Threshold). This computer also determines point of aim and relays this information to the users smart-link system (the MA5B has no open or optical type sighting equipment). An onboard 12v, 15000mah NIMH battery cell powers this computer, as well as the tactical combat light when needed. Battery will drain much faster when the light is used, and if it is depleted, it will recharge itself using a small portion of the users shield energy.

Pistol

Pistol

Magazine Size	12
Primary Function	Medium ranged sniping
Secondary Function	Getting quick kills with combos

The Pistol, also known as the Magnum within lore, is a handheld semi-automatic pistol for UNSC forces. It is known for dealing high damage to shielded and unshielded enemies and for it’s functionality more akin to a medium ranged rifle than a true pistol.

Usage in multiplayer

In Multiplayer, the pistol can be extremely valuable if one cannot reach a sniper rifle in time or cannot find one, as the pistol has 2x zoom and can be used to plink targets at medium to somewhat long ranges, however if a target manages to close the distance, it loses it’s effectiveness, especially if the player begins to shoot only at the enemy’s torso rather than the head. To avoid an opponent from closing in, remember to move constantly and do not be a sitting duck. Strafing is your friend here, especially if an opponent is already close enough to you and to prevent other snipers from using you as target practice. If strafing or moving constantly in a close range situation proves too difficult, it is recommended to pair the weapon with a good close-range weapon such as the assault or the shotgun if one is prone to have poor accuracy at close ranges, either due to nervousness or poor marksmanship.

The pistol is often infamously known for the “noob combo”, where a player takes the plasma pistol, charges up a shot and fires it into a player, quickly depleting their shields, and then finishing them off with a few headshots. Other weapons can replicate it to some effect, such as the assault rifle, which can shred through a player’s shields easily. The plasma rifle can also achieve this, as it has a function to briefly stun players hit with multiple plasma rounds, allow for one to follow up with pistol shots to the head to finish them off.

Usage in campaign

In Campaign, the pistol shares all the same traits and abilities as it does in Multiplayer.

The pistol is extremely effective towards grunts, jackals, and hunters(the latter due to an infamous glitch) as well as elites to some extent. The same concept of moving constantly and avoiding a single spot applies here also.

Plasma Grenade

The Plasma Grenade, or the Type-1 plasma grenade, is a thrown grenade seen in Halo and it’s consecutive games. It resembles a small blue orb with orange and green markings on it. The grenade’s function allows it to stick to targets such as players and vehicles.

Usage in Multiplayer

The plasma grenade is not seen too frequently due to it’s power, and as such if an opportunity arises for you to obtain or even use one, it is important to know which situations to use it in.

One type of situation could be that you are engaged in a close range firefight with a few other enemy players in a somewhat small hallway, you could use the plasma grenade and stick one of the opponents to possibly a multi-kill out of it, and you probably won’t miss the throw either, however you will run the risk of killing yourself from the explosion if the hallway is especially close-quarters. In this situation, it is advised to back up as much as possible before sticking the enemy with a grenade.

Another situation is you are standing on a cliff or another ledge and a enemy player runs past below, taking a few potshots at your teammates. They don’t see you, but you can see them, and you have a chance of throwing the grenade onto them at this range. With good enough tracking and timing, you could possibly stick them with the grenade, however you are probably going to miss by a few inches. Instead, get as close enough to stick them, but far enough to not kill or injure yourself, then throw the grenade.

Another situation is a vehicle, say a warthog, or a scorpion, is barreling towards you and your teammates. You happen to have a plasma grenade, so where do you throw it? You will want to target the parts of the vehicle body closest to the driver or the passengers. On a warthog this means the mounted machine gun and the sides of the vehicle, on a scorpion this means the rollcage and the area next to it. Targeting these areas will often allow you to quickly eliminate or wound the passengers.;

Warthog

The Warthog, also known as the Hog, the M12 LRV, and the M12 Force Application Vehicle, is a small Jeep-like vehicle with a machine gun turret, while also comfortably seating 3. It is humorously known for it’s physics which more than often results in the vehicle flipping over, the power of the machine gun, and it’s presence in another form of media, Red vs Blue.

Usage in Multiplayer

The Warthog is useful for traversing maps that are medium to large sized, as the regular walkspeed is too slow and wastes too much time if you happen to die often. With the ability to seat a passenger and a gunner, bringing the total passenger count to 3 with the driver, you can quickly assemble a small attack force to assault the enemy team’s objectives.

Another aspect is the machine gun mounted on the back of the vehicle. It is also medium and somewhat long ranged, however at longer ranges the crosshair for the gun may not be sufficient for aiming. Instead, make sure to not focus on one target to continually hammer away at with bullets, focus on multiple other targets if possible and try to get someone or yourself to drive the warthog constantly in order to throw off snipers who are aware of your little run and gun tactic.

Since the warthog is a vehicle, another tactic is to attempt to run over enemy players, especially if your warthog has lost all it’s passengers and you are the last man standing, or if close range tactics are the only tactic available due to either a lack of a gunner or the gun cannot hit a target.

If you happen to be on the receiving end of a warthog attack, grenades, sniper rifles(if you can eliminate the driver or other armed targets), and rocket launchers are all effective at eliminating warthogs. If you wish to use plasma grenades, avoid throwing them on the window of the warthog because they simply slide off. Instead, try to throw the grenade on the turret and generally anywhere on the body of the vehicle.

Vs. Scorpions

There are a couple of good ways to combat an enemy in a scorpion tank.

• The, hopefully, obvious way is to use a rocket launcher (or FRG, if you are playing on PC) against an enemy scorpion. Keep in mind however, that although tanks may drive slowly, you will still need to lead your shot to some extent, especially when firing from a long distance. One direct hit should kill under normal slayer rules.

• If you can't get your hands on a rocket launcher, then probably an equally, if not better way, is to use a sniper rifle. There are gaps in the rollcage for the scorpion, and so you should be able to hit the driver, if not score a headshot. Remember that experienced players will know better than to drive straight at you though, and will try to keep only their turret faced towards you, with the actual chassis of the tank facing the opposite direction.

• If you wind up close to an enemy tank, try to use plasma grenades to destroy it, if you have them. You should only require two if you make direct latches, and if you don't have plasma grenades, throwing frag grenades under the tank will also do a fair amount of damage, but not as much as stickies would.

• Another good way to take out an enemy tank is to use a ghost vehicle. Because of the vehicle's stunning effect, the driver won't be able to turn as fast as he'd like, and so is rendered helpless as long as you don't overstrafe back into his turret's way. Also, even if that happens, it is considerably harder to kill a ghost than another vehicle because of the fact that it hovers above the ground.

• PC Only Should you wind up very close to an enemy scorpion, then it is quite easy to just roast him with the flamethrower, provided you watch your step.

• PC Only Also, you may use a banshee to attack an enemy scorpion in a fashion similar to that of the ghost. However, keep in mind that you have a fuel rod cannon, which you can cause a large amount of damage with, but also, you have to fly out of the way, for the banshee cannot strafe.

These aren't the only ways you can go about taking down an enemy tank, but rather, they are just tried-and-true methods for combatting these massive vehicles.

Backpack Reload

An easy and yet invaluable technique for any Halo player, the backpack reload glitch allows a player to reload his weapon with the other weapon out. This glitch works as follows:

• Have the weapon that needs reloading out. (This commonly happens when you were attacking with the weapon and the clip is spent.)

• Hit the reload button twice, and then bring out your other weapon.

• The reload animation will continue for the 3rd person view, and you will still hear the reload sound effects. However, you can fire and everything else as normal.

• When the animation/sounds are finished, your weapon is done reloading, and will be reloaded when you bring out the original weapon.

Using this technique, you can cycle through two different weapons without ever having to pause to reload, which is what makes it such an essential skill.