CEV:Magnum

Magnum
Gameplay role
Faction:	Human (UNSC)
Weapon class (?):	Pistol
Weapon type (?):	Bullet
Firing mode:	Automatic
Effective range:	Medium
Counterparts:	Covenant Plasma Pistol
Gameplay stats
Damage:	23
Damage type (?):	bullet_slow
Projectile effects:	Headshots
Max range (?):	100 wu
Rate of fire:	0.28s fire recovery time (3.57 rounds per second)
Spread (?):	0.2 to 2 degrees
Magazine size:	12 rounds
Reserve ammo capacity:	108 rounds (9 magazines)
Zoom:	2×

“

The Magnum pistol and its integrated scope provide precision at long range, and can eliminate unshielded targets with a single headshot.

”

The Magnum is a weapon featured in Halo: Campaign Evolved. It is one of the most common weapons throughout the game, usually being featured as a starting weapon for the player. Information on the Magnum found in Halo: Combat Evolved and its Anniversary remaster can be found here.

Universe and lore

Main article: M6D magnum

Like the original Combat Evolved, the Pistol featured in Campaign Evolved is the M6D magnum; a magazine-fed 12.7x40mm handgun in the M6 series utilized by the UNSC Marine Corps and UNSC Navy. It is upscaled compared to other variants in the M6 series. The M6Ds used in-game are officer's models, which feature a smart-linked KFA-2 sight.

Gameplay

Counterparts

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  Plasma Pistol

Campaign

The Magnum in Campaign Evolved was designed to reflect the Pistol from the original Combat Evolved. It has been somewhat rebalanced in the remake, though retains much of the original's infamous power. The weapon has a similar rate-of-fire and retains the automatic fire capability of the original, though carries one fewer magazine. It has a slightly lower damage, though makes up for that with 2.5x higher range, and a projectile that emulates hitscan behaviour. The spread values are retained from the original Combat Evolved multiplayer variant of the pistol. The result is a pistol that is marginally weaker in terms of raw damage, but much more effective at longer ranges than its 2001 counterpart, provided the player can keep the weapon's bloom under control. The weapon is much more effective at killing Elites, as unlike the original game the Campaign Evolved Magnum is not hardcoded to deal 20% less damage to energy shielding. A similar penalty was also removed from Sentinels; the original game applied an 80% damage reduction to pistol attacks against Sentinels, but in Campaign Evolved this is removed, making the weapon much better at killing them. The addition of melee lunge also makes the weapon's melee attack more effective than the original.

Where the Magnum suffers compared to the original game is its effectiveness against vehicles, now dealing less damage to enemy Ghosts and Banshees. For example, the original game's Banshee required 23 shots to kill; this has been increased to 40. It is also less effective at dealing with Hunters, as the Hunters' back no longer counts as the "head" for headshot purposes, meaning they can no longer be one-hit-killed. Instead, the Hunters have a new critical spot if their back armour is broken off, which can be shot twice to kill them. The Brute enemies in the prequel levels can not be headshot, making the pistol a poor choice for dealing with them.

Like the original game, the Magnum is the first weapon given to the player at the start of the level The Pillar of Autumn. After this it is commonly available in nearly every single level, save for The Truth and Reconciliation, as weapon commonly used by Marines, UNSC Navy crewmen, and infected humans.

Keyes holding his personalised Magnum.

An addition in Campaign Evolved is a plot thread throughout the game's cutscenes regarding Keyes' magnum. When Captain Keyes gives the Master Chief the weapon at the start of the game, it is no longer a normal pistol, but instead a unique weapon with a matte black finish, wooden grip, and gold inscriptions honouring Keyes' previous service aboard the starship UNSC Meriwether Lewis, as originally depicted in Halo: The Cole Protocol. Keyes instructs the Master Chief to keep the weapon safe and to give it to his daughter, should he not make it out alive. While the weapon and its unique detailing can be used in the first level of the game, it is simply a reskin of the standard Magnum with no stat changes. After the first level the weapon is not shown or used again except during cutscenes, where the Master Chief and Keyes discuss it again in Truth and Reconciliation's brig, and the Chief later uses it in the final cutscene to fend off a Flood tank form attacking his Longsword. Keyes' Magnum can be equipped as a skin for use in other missions, detailed below.

Skins

There is a single weapon skin for the Magnum in Campaign Evolved, themed after Jacob Keyes' personal variant of the sidearm.

Magnum customization v • d • e
Cosmetic	Type	Description	Unlock requirements
Standard Issue	Style	All-environment coating for operation in non-terrestrial environments.	Unlocked by default.
Cold Iron	Skin	Keeping you safe in the darkest of days.	Purchase the Premium Edition of Halo: Campaign Evolved or its upgrade, and get the Alpha Halo Armory Pack.

Production notes

The Campaign Evolved Magnum was concepted by Halo Studios' concept artist Salvatorre Yazzie and modelled by Senior Hard Surface Artist Michael Frank (both the standard and Keyes variants). The weapon was modelled in Maya and Fusion360, and textured in Substance 3D Painter.

The Magnum was first shown off in the 2024 Project Foundry demo, which was used by Halo Studios to explore the process of transitioning from the series' traditional Blam engine to Unreal Engine 5 in early preproduction for Campaign Evolved. The Foundry demo depicted dioramas of the Master Chief in various environments, with some of them depicting him holding the Magnum. The weapon was first shown in action upon Campaign Evolved's 2025 announcement in The Silent Cartographer Demo, in which it had a total capacity of 7 magazines (84 rounds). This was increased for the final release up to 9 magazines (108 rounds), though with few other changes. The weapon reuses animations for the M6D pistol featured in Halo 5: Guardians.

According to Michael Frank, the Keyes Magnum skin was done close to the end of production.

Gallery

Development images

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  Concept art for the weapon.

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  Promotional keyart of Master Chief using the weapon.

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  A render of the weapon's high-poly source asset.

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  A render of the weapon's high-poly source asset.

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  A render of the weapon's high-poly source asset.

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  A render of the weapon's high-poly source asset.

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  A render of the weapon's high-poly source asset, showing the internals and layout.

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  A render of the weapon.

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  A render of the weapon.

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  A render of the weapon's barrel.

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  A render of the weapon and its magazine.

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  A render of the weapon.

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  A render of the weapon.

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  A render of the weapon.

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  The Magnum in the 2024 Project Foundry demo.

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  The Chief using the Magnum to fight an Elite in the Foundry demo.

Screenshots

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  First-person view of the Magnum in The Silent Cartographer demo.

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  First-person view of a player using the Magnum.

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  A player using the Magnum in the Operation: METEORITE prequel campaign.

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  A player using the Magnum in third-person with the Perspective skull enabled.

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  A Marine using a Magnum on the level The Pillar of Autumn.

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  The Crazy Marine holding a Magnum.