Okarda'phaa-pattern plasma rifle
From Halopedia, the Halo wiki
- "You know, it looks delicate and so you feel like you need to hold it kinda gingerly—but then you see an Elite crack a Bravo Kilos head with one—the things are built tough."
- — Anonymous Serviceman
The Type-25 Directed Energy Rifle,[1] more commonly known as the Plasma Rifle, is a Covenant infantry weapon.
Design Details
A plasma rifle is a Covenant directed energy weapon that uses superheated ionized gas called Plasma instead of projectile ammunition. The weapon has a power output of 100-150 KV @ 2~3 dA, and can fire 360~540 rounds per minute. Unlike the Plasma Pistol, the plasma rifle is capable of semi-automatic, and full automatic fire, this is thanks in part to its dual plasma collimator design. Placed atop one another, these collimators fire in a "stagger" taking the slow automatic fire of each individual collimator and combining it, this design allows a faster rate of fire and more rounds per second, which adds to the lethality of the weapon. The Type-25 DER is the primary weapon of the Covenant’s officer corps, used by Elites and Brutes, although Jackals and Grunts have been seen using this weapon, but not as common. Against UNSC infantry, the Type-25 rifle's lethality is considerably greater than its counterpart the Type-25 pistol, due to the faster rate of fire, injuries inflicted to the victim are severe third-degree burns, with the wound being cauterized instantly upon impact. Even near misses will produce severe burns and heat trauma. Should the plasma impact an object, the impact can create fragments that may come into contact with a victim, with a crippling or lethal effect. Generally two hits from either a plasma pistol or plasma rifle will kill a light, or non armored target. Like its counterpart, over extended periods of firing can overheat the weapon, causing it to become unusable for a short period of time. In the context of the Halo games, all of the plasma weapons' strength and lethality are compensated for both the sake of ESRB rating and gameplay.
Advantages
The plasma rifle is a close to medium range weapon, and as such can inflict very high damage at range, the plasma rifle can also be used at long range if the user fires slowly and aims carefully by leading the target. The rifle is extremely efficient at killing "soft" targets, while doing lethal amounts of damage to a heavily armored target. Enough infantry equipped with Type-25 rifles can halt enemy infantry advance with its ability to deliver harassing suppressive fire; this tactic is also reflected in the Covenant's combat doctrine: destroy enemy morale with harassing fire from distant or hidden snipers and intimate exposure to the alien-ness of their infantry. SPARTAN-IIs and Elites have the ability to duel-wielding plasma rifles doubling their efficiency in close to medium range combat situations. The plasma rifle's high velocity bolt coupled with its kinetic impact to a target can temporarily stun a target like a SPARTAN-II.
Disadvantages
The plasma rifle, when fired continuously, overheats very quickly because of the rapid cycling, loading, ignition, and release sequence of energy - to prevent the weapon from being damaged, the Type-25 DER temporarily shuts down and opens heating vents to allow the excess heat to dissipate before the weapon reactivates. This process leaves the weapon inoperable and is useless. Careless infantry who are not aware of the function of the plasma rifle can get themselves killed because of this. Human military experts and scientists do not understand how Covenant plasma weapons work, or how they are recharged; as such when the battery is depleted the rifle must be discarded or replaced. At 10% charge level, the plasma rifle will begin to misfire, this is due to the battery's inability to deliver enough energy to start and complete the ignition and release phase of operation, as such this hampers the operators use of the weapon.
Although the plasma rifle can strike a target at longer ranges it is not suited for long range combat, this is due to two distinct properties of the weapons operation. The first is the rate of thermal expansion which is determined by the rate of the bloom of the bolt. The second factor is speed; the faster the bolt goes, the farther the bolt will travel before the magnetic field begins to weaken, causing the temperature of the bolt to cool before the magnetic field becomes unstable and finally dissipates. The bolt also loses velocity and kinetic impact with longer travel.
Changes
Halo: Combat Evolved
The plasma rifle in Halo: Combat Evolved is far more powerful than its Halo 2 and Halo 3 counterparts; also the weapon holds the unique ability to stun opponents that were hit by high amount of plasma rounds: this effect greatly reduces the victim's ability to move and dodge the incoming projectiles and allows the user to easily hold the opponent in the weapon's firing arc. However, the drawback was that this effect is only felt with continuous fire. While stunned, the weapon will often overheat before the opponent is killed. Despite this drawback, the stun ability is a useful and potent feature in the hands of an experienced user. Beware that the plasma rifle decreases its accuracy while heating up. However, burst-firing the weapon, releasing 2-3 bolts per firing, can counteract this. In the campaign, the plasma rifle is best used against the Sentinels and Elites. You can obtain a fully charged plasma rifle by killing flood or killing Elites riding on vehicles such as Ghosts.
Changes From Halo: Combat Evolved to Halo 2
- The plasma rifle is not as powerful as its predecessor and lacks the ability to stun. These drawbacks are compensated by a higher rate of fire and the ability to dual-wield the weapon, allowing it to be paired with a wide variety of other weapons and creating powerful combinations.
- The changes done to the weapon are directly related to the inclusion of dual-wielding and higher rate of fire. For purposes of balance, the plasma rifle, along with many others from Halo: Combat Evolved, was tweaked to better fit the new game's fighting style. The weapon takes an opponent's shields off with five shots, but it takes many more to kill. This version of the plasma rifle behaves more as a SMG rather than a rifle.
- It has a higher accuracy, though, when dual wielded, if both rifles are fired simultaneously, the accuracy will greatly decrease.
- The sound effects for the plasma rifle have been changed, to give each weapon a distinct sound for better recognition.
- A new variant, the Brute Plasma Rifle is introduced.
Changes from Halo 2 to Halo 3
- The plasma rifle in Halo 3, is made more powerful than its Halo 2 counterpart but is still weaker than the Halo: Combat Evolved plasma rifle. Like most of the new weapons in Halo 3, they have the same overheating rate as their predecessors, yet they fire as fast as the Brute plasma rifles in Halo 2.
- The plasma bolts fired by the plasma rifle and all other plasma weapons in Halo 3 have been graphically redesigned to have a more vivid look. The bolts seem to travel faster than those of its previous versions, reducing the need to "lead" or "direct" the shots at mid to long ranges.
- After a few shots, the weapon becomes very inaccurate to fire. In Halo 3, it takes eighteen plasma bolts to kill an enemy with normal shields.
Tips And Strategies
The plasma rifle has limited uses in Multiplayer but is still a useful weapon, especially if dual-wielded or if playing on a close-quarters map. In Halo 2 and Halo 3, dual-wielding increases the combined rate of fire and damage. Although its range limits the weapon to close quarter and medium range fire fights, if used properly a player can quickly dispose of a far away enemy but if it's possible you should get in close. It is also advisable to carry a mid to long range weapon such as a battle rifle or sniper rifle for backup against targets outside of the plasma rifle's range. It has the fastest melee attack of any weapon except for the energy sword, and it's melee is also powerful. In Halo 3, this weapon can easily overpower an Assault Rifle if the melee is used in conjunction well with the energy shield depleting shots, allowing an easy take down, however at medium range the assault rifle is likely to overpower the plasma rifle. The reason for the plasma rifle's superiority is the fact that it is more accurate than the assault rifle, and yet it inflicts a similar, if not larger amount of damage. This weapon is also usefull on overshields.
- In close quarters, like all other weapons, it is preferable to just take out your opponent's energy shield with the plasma rifle, followed by a melee attack.
- Like all plasma-based weaponry, it is great against shields, but it takes a slightly longer time to take down an unshielded opponent compared to human weapons like the assault rifle.
- In Halo 2 and Halo 3, dual wielding in conjunction with a weapon that does high flesh damage (i.e. SMG or Mauler) can be very effective if the rifle is first used to deplete the target's shields, then the additional weapon is used to finish the kill.
- Also while dual wielding plasma rifles, it is usually a good idea not to get too close to the enemy, to aviod them meleeing you while you are dual wielding.
- In maps with the plasma rifle, you should camp in secluded places that many people walk by. The people walking by most likely won't see you; you can take out their shields easily with the Plasma Rifle and then smash them to death.
- In Halo 2, if you pull the trigger fast enough repeatedly, you may fire faster than the default rate of fire compared to when just holding the trigger down.
- In Halo: Combat Evolved, it is a good idea to carry a Human weapon as a secondary weapon. Use the plasma rifle until it overheats to drain an opponents shield and then shoot them with your secondary weapon. An M6D Pistol is best used for secondary but an assault rifle works well too.
- On the level "Cortana" in Halo 3, it is useful to dual-wield plasma rifles and pick off more distant Pure Forms, espeially the Ranged Forms, which can shoot you from a long distance. By zooming in, and looking at the bottom of the screen, you will see a few red numbers indicating their distance (of up to 50 metres). Opening short bursts of fire will kill them easily, as they will flinch and cease fire when being shot. Another strategy is to use the brute shot for similar purposes.
- In Halo 3, it is recommended you fire in short bursts at medium range to increase your accuracy and conserve battery.
- When facing Flood Combat Forms, aim for the chest.
UNSC Remarks
- “The Type-25 DER has no recoil to speak of; it tears the crap out of shields and you can shoot the thing all day long—it's on the heavy side though.”
- “I realize that it uses a battery instead of a magazine, but nobody has figured out how to swap it or recharge it yet? Don’t we have scientists working for us or something?”
- “It’s got no sight-line, it’s awkward to hold, and if it overheats it’ll cook the hair right off of your wrists.”
- “You know, it looks delicate and so you feel like you need to hold it kind of gingerly—but then you see an Elite crack a Bravo Kilo's head with one—the things are built tough.”
- “Yeah, and I’ve seen some Elites swinging two of them around like it was nothing—scary shit.”
- "These things are huge—but I guess the Elites are, too—so it sorta makes sense."
Trivia
- The plasma rifle is a rifle in name only; as such there is an ambiguity in its correct designation as a sub-machine gun.
- In Halo 2, the Brutes normally wield the Brute Plasma Rifle, except in "The Great Journey" when a vehicle is driven by a Brute. Also in the level "Sacred Icon" you can see that a few dead Brutes have a plasma rifle beside them showing their use of the normal standard plasma rifle instead of the Brute version.
- In Halo: Combat Evolved, if your character remains idle for a minute, he'll inspect the weapon on both sides; in Halo 2 he'll open the cooling vents, and in Halo 3, he'll pull on the top.
- Like most Covenant weapons the plasma rifle has no sights. It appears to rely entirely on the user's HUD reticule for aim assistance.
- In Halo 3 multiplayer, with no damage modifiers on, this weapon has the third lowest shot damage difference between single and dual wield. The plasma pistol has no difference in shot damage, and the Mauler, when dual wielded, takes one more shot to kill a 2x overshielded enemy, than when single wielded. At normal shields, the shot difference is only two shots (eighteen single, twenty dual), and at 4x overshield the difference is only three shots (thirty-two single, thirty-five dual).
- In Halo 3 the plasma rifle has a style pattern; this is best seen in well lit areas.
- Laser tag maker Jasman Toys produced a Plasma Rifle laser tag model. There is also a plasma pistol, both of which use the same targeting frequency and are compatible. The rifle has autofire, but "overheats" after 20 rounds and the player must close the thermal vent and wait for it to "cool off".
- In Halo: Combat Evolved, the Plasma Rifle has two shots per 1% charge, totaling 200 shots. In Halo 2 and 3, it has four, totaling 400 shots.
- Modified Plasma Rifles appeared in Halo: Cole Protocol. They featured ammo readouts with Arabic numerals and pop-up sights, and were sold to Humans from Kig-yar black markets. This was seen as a heresy among the rest of the Covenant.
- Plasma Rifles are much rarer in Halo 3 than the other games, possibly because they are much more powerful than the other variants. It could be because the Plasma Rifle is a Sangheili weapon, and the Jiralhanae prefer to use their own weapons like the Spiker or the Mauler instead of weapons like the Plasma Rifle or Energy Sword.
- In Halo 2, while playing as the Arbiter, if you look carefully at your allies' their Plasma Rifles are in "overheat" mode.
- In the Halo: Combat Evolved instruction booklet there is a Plasma Rifle picture over a picture of the Needler.
- Grunts only need one hand to hold this weapon, compared to the two required for a Marine to hold.
Gallery
Two Plasma Rifles in Halo 3.
A SpecOps Elite holding a Plasma Rifle.
A SPARTAN-II welding two Plasma Rifles.
A comparison between the standard Plasma Rifle and the Brute Plasma Rifle.
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An Elite Minor holding a Plasma Rifle.
