A highly militarized coalition, the Covenant has developed an impressive arsenal of weapons to equip its ground troops with fighting gear that’s on par with that of the UNSC. Your adventures will take you to Covenant worlds, where you’ll have access to the following array of Covenant arms.
Covenant Ammo Crate
When exploring hostile territory or alien worlds, keep a lookout for Covenant ammo crates. Moving close to one of these little crates tops off your ammo, making then quite valuable. Keep close to Covenant ammo crates and you’ll never run out of ammo for these weapons:
» Carbine
» Needler
Beam Rifle
Range: Long
Headshots: Yes
Magazine: 1
Spare Ammo: 9
Firing Speed: Semi-auto
Secondary Fire: None
The Covenant’s spin on a Sniper Rifle, the Beam Rifle is designed to fry enemy soldiers at nearly any range with its devastating jolts of lethal energy. Like the Plasma Pistol, the weapon features no magazine and can be fired as quickly as its wielder can pull the trigger—this reduces the odds that the target will manage to escape while you’re reloading, but it also enables the Beam Rifle to overheat if it is fired too rapidly. Just two successive shots without pause will cause an overheat, so keep an eye on the heat gauge and try to leave short pauses between shots.
» The Covenant’s answer to the Sniper Rifle: high damage output coupled with a powerful scope.
» Overheats when fired too rapidly, but never needs to be reloaded.
» Advanced scope lets the user zoom in twice to fire on distant threats with incredible accuracy.
Carbine
Range: Medium-long
Headshots: Yes
Magazine: 20
Spare Ammo: 80
Firing Speed: Semi-auto
Secondary Fire: None
An accurate and easy-to-handle firearm, the Carbine is designed to deliver precision shots across long distances. Although not as powerful as its peers, namely the Battle Rifle, DMR, and LightRifle, the Carbine holds more ammo and can be fired far more rapidly, lending it greater value in the field of versatility.
» Accurate, fast-firing rifle that can score headshots on distant threats.
» High magazine and spare ammo capacity makes it a valuable asset throughout a mission.
» Less damaging, but accurate and headshot-capable. Lethal in the hands of marksmen.
Energy Sword
Range: Close
Headshots: No
Magazine: N/A (energy based)
Spare Ammo: N/A (energy based)
Firing Speed: Single strike
Secondary Fire: None
In addition to their beloved Storm Rifles, many Elites also carry Energy Swords, which they whip out to cleave apart enemies who foolishly move too close. Some Elites even prefer the Energy Sword over the Storm Rifle, choosing to wield the blade as their primary weapon. These Elites are commonly sheathed in Active Camouflage, helping them advance undetected to deliver their fatal strikes. The Energy Sword is absolutely lethal; do everything in your power to keep Elites who wield them at bay.
» A lethal close-range weapon capable of killing most targets with a single blow.
» Allows the wielder to swiftly close in on nearby foes and land a lethal strike.
» Each blow that lands consumes energy. The weapon becomes useless when its energy runs out.
Fuel Rod Cannon
Range: Short-medium
Headshots: No
Magazine: 5
Spare Ammo: 10
Firing Speed: Semi-auto
Secondary Fire: None
One of the Covenant’s most powerful portable weapons, the Fuel Rod Cannon is light enough to be carried by a Grunt, but mighty enough to bring down vehicles and Spartans alike. All Banshees and Hunters are equipped with these deadly weapons. Keep your distance from foes wielding Fuel Rod Cannons and you’ll be able to exploit the slow velocity of the weapon’s volatile ordnance. Remain evasive, beware of each blast’s splash damage, and don’t expose yourself until you’ve neutralized the source of a Fuel Rod Cannon’s fire.
» Portable powerhouse designed to pound the enemy with huge amounts of explosive fire.
» Lacks the Rocket Launcher’s tracking system but can be fired quite rapidly to overwhelm more agile foes.
» Distinct firing sound betrays its presence on the field.
Needler
Range: Close-medium
Headshots: No
Magazine: 22
Spare Ammo: 66
Firing Speed: Full-auto
Secondary Fire: None
This fully automatic Covenant sidearm rapidly fires shards of crystals at swift velocity. The crystals track their target and embed directly (and painfully) into the victim. Should a target be stuck by several needles, a chain reaction will occur, causing the needles to detonate in a deadly explosion that’s similar in effect (and lethality) to a Plasma Grenade. This chain detonation makes the Needler very effective against tougher enemies such as Elites.
» Fast-firing weapon whose needles track their target.
» Needles bounce off of heavy armor but lodge into light armor and flesh.
» Being stuck by multiple needles triggers a chain reaction explosion that decimates the target—this is the Needler’s true strength.
Plasma Cannon Turret
Range: Close-medium
Headshots: No
Magazine: 200 (detached)
Spare Ammo: None (detached)
Firing Speed: Full-auto
Secondary Fire: None
Deployed by the Covenant as stationary turrets, Plasma Cannons are powerful weapons that never run out of ammo, so long as they’re affixed to their turret mount. When detached from its mount, a Plasma Cannon loses its infinite ammo advantage, but its wielder gains the ability to carry the Plasma Cannon around as a third weapon, just like a Splinter Turret. Agility is reduced while carrying a Plasma Cannon, but the weapon’s vast firepower is usually a welcome advantage.
» Heavy plasma firepower wipes out shields and melts down unprotected threats.
» Low accuracy, good damage.
» Unlimited ammo while affixed to mount. Can be detached for portability.
Plasma Caster
Range: Medium-long
Headshots: No
Magazine: 5
Spare Ammo: 15
Firing Speed: Semi-auto
Secondary Fire: Charged shot
New to the Halo franchise, the Plasma Caster is a powerful Covenant weapon that launches up to five Plasma Grenades in rapid succession. Unlike normal Plasma Grenades, the Plasma Caster’s kind bounce around a bit more before exploding, and they don’t adhere to enemies—unless you charge up a shot by holding down the Fire button. This preps a larger plasma blast that sticks to the first object or enemy struck, erupting seconds later into a shower of Plasma Grenades that decimates anything unfortunate enough to be caught nearby.
» Unless you’re being pressured, always try to fire charged shots—they’re far more effective than single shots.
» Lob charged shots at dangerous stationary threats like turrets to annihilate them from afar.
» Charge up shots and stick them on walls or ceilings above or behind enemies to catch them in the blast.
Plasma Grenade
Range: Medium-long
Headshots: No
Magazine: N/A
Spare Ammo: 2
Firing Speed: Single thrown grenade
Secondary Fire: None
The Covenant’s brand of grenade is similar to the Frag Grenades employed by the UNSC. However, instead of bouncing around and quickly detonating, Plasma Grenades stick to enemies and vehicles, detonate after a brief delay, and annihilate their host. The blast radius is much smaller than the UNSC Frag Grenade, but the damage is far greater. This, coupled with the Plasma Grenade's ability to adhere, makes it one of the most devious explosives you’ll find.
» Powerful thrown explosive.
» Bounces once and then waits several seconds before exploding.
» Adheres to enemies and vehicles, all but guaranteeing their demise.
Plasma Pistol
Range: Close-medium
Headshots: No
Magazine: N/A (energy based)
Spare Ammo: N/A (energy based)
Firing Speed: Semi-auto
Secondary Fire: Charged shot
Plasma Pistols are small firearms carried by many Covenant forces—and often dropped by them during their death throes. Though unassuming, Plasma Pistols are excellent at stripping energy shields and can be fired about as quickly as a Storm Rifle if you’re quick at pulling the trigger. Hold the trigger to charge up a powerful EMP (electromagnetic pulse) blast that can briefly disable vehicles or knock out an Elite’s shields in a single shot! This charged shot is the Plasma Pistol’s true strength, but unleashing it consumes significant energy.
» Charged shots can disable vehicles and break Elite shields.
» Use in conjunction with a headshot weapon, such as a Magnum, to quickly break shields and score headshot kills on fearsome Elites.
» Energy slowly drains while you overcharge the weapon. Don’t charge a shot until you’re ready to fire.
Storm Rifle
Range: Close
Headshots: No
Magazine: N/A (energy based)
Spare Ammo: N/A (energy based)
Firing Speed: Full-auto
Secondary Fire: None
A favorite among Elites, Storm Rifles are powerful, fully automatic energy weapons designed to quickly strip a Spartan’s shields. Although their accuracy falls off over longer distances, few weapons can match the Storm Rifle’s ability to rapidly deplete shields at close and medium range. Storm Rifles never need to be reloaded, but their high rate of fire causes them to swiftly overheat if unleashed at full auto for more than a few seconds. Shoot in short, controlled bursts to ensure your Storm Rifles never overheat
» Fast-firing energy weapon that quickly strips shields.
» Quickly heats up while in use. Fire in short bursts to avoid overheating.
» Use in conjunction with a headshot weapon, such as a Magnum, to eliminate Elites quickly and efficiently.