H2:Battle Rifle
From Halopedia, the Halo wiki
| Battle Rifle | |
|---|---|
  The Battle Rifles in Halo 2 (top) and Anniversary (bottom). | |
| Gameplay role | |
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Faction: |
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Firing mode: |
Semi-automatic Burst |
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Effective range: |
Medium |
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Counterparts: |
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| Gameplay stats (as of Auto-Update 2) | |
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Damage: |
6 * 3 rounds per burst (18 total) |
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| |
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Projectile effects: |
Headshots |
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Projectile speed: |
400 wu/s |
|
~26.66 wu | |
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40 wu | |
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Rate of fire: |
15 rounds per second 0.26s fire recovery time [Note 1] |
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SP: 0.3 to 0.6 degrees MP: 0.1 degrees | |
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Magazine size: |
36 rounds (12 bursts) |
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Reserve ammo capacity: |
108 rounds (4 magazines) |
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3 degrees out to 17 wu | |
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6 degrees out to 21 wu | |
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Zoom: |
2x magnification |
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| |
This article is part of a series on Battle Rifles
For more gameplay weapon articles, see here!
| “ | Battle Rifle fires 9.5mm rounds from 36-round magazine. Mounted with a 2X optical scope for targeting. Fires in short, automatic bursts of three rounds. Very accurate, relatively high rate of fire makes it a useful all-around infantry weapon.[2] | ” |
The Battle Rifle was a weapon introduced in Halo 2, and has since gone on to become one of the franchise's staple implements. This page focuses on the original Halo 2 game and the campaign of Anniversary. Information on the Battle Rifle in the multiplayer component of Halo 2: Anniversary can be found here.
Universe and lore[edit]
- Main article: BR55 battle rifle
The BR55 battle rifle is a standard service arm in the United Nations Space Command, having recently supplanted the older M392 DMR in almost all service branches.[2]
Gameplay[edit]
Counterparts[edit]
Campaign[edit]
The Battle Rifle is one of the first weapons encountered in the campaign of Halo 2, alongside the other main new addition to the game; the SMG. The weapon fills a role similar to that of the Pistol from Halo: Combat Evolved, a medium-ranged, headshot-capable utility weapon that is useful against most enemies in most environments. It fires in bursts of three can kill most unshielded enemies in a single shot to the head.
The Battle Rifle and SMG can both be acquired immediately at the start of the first level Cairo Station, and from that point on are staples of almost all levels in the game (particularly any in which the player fights alongside UNSC forces or against infected humans). It can be commonly found in the hands of Marines in the first half of the game, though by the latter half of the game the decreased presence of UNSC forces means that the Covenant equivalent, the Covenant Carbine, begins to appear more.
The Battle Rifle's main weakness is that it cannot pierce energy shielding or Jackal shields, though its accuracy means it is capable for shooting Jackal hands and causing them to flinch, exposing them for a follow-on headshot. For dealing with shielded Elites, the weapon combos well with a Melee or a plasma weapon like the Plasma Pistol or Plasma Rifle, which are adept at stripping shields and leaving enemies vulnerable to being picked off by a Battle Rifle. Brutes are more complicated as they wear helmets which make them immune to headshots, but a couple of headshots break off their helmets and leave them vulnerable.
Multiplayer[edit]
The Battle Rifle is a map pickup on all multiplayer maps except Gemini. It is also the starting weapon on the map Tombstone, paired with an SMG secondary. As with the Halo: Combat Evolved Pistol it replaces, it is a utility weapon capable of killing an enemy player in exactly 4 bursts if no bullets miss. The weapon suffers at longer ranges due to its nature as a burst weapon; moving while shooting causes shots to fire at different angles, reducing accuracy overall.
In addition to its "Noob Combo" synergy with the Plasma Pistol, the Battle Rifle is integral to some button combos, namely the BXR and Double Shot glitches. Double Shot allows the player to skip the delay between bursts, while the BXR allows the player to fire immediately after meleeing by skipping the end of the melee animation. Both of these glitches (as well as other general exploits) led to the Battle Rifle being more powerful than intended, and button combos were removed when the weapon returned in Halo 3.
Production notes[edit]
- "In Halo, the pistol behaved more like a rifle than the assault rifle, and the assault rifle behaved like a submachine gun. Now we have a rifle that behaves like a rifle, an SMG that behaves like an SMG, and a pistol that behaves like a pistol. Basically I initiated a 'throw off the shackles of FPS conventions' party and just about everybody showed up."
- — Robert McLees[3]
The Battle Rifle was introduced in Halo 2 as a functional replacement of the pistol originally in Halo: Combat Evolved. The pistol in that game was famous for being a reliable utility weapon at range, characteristics which Jaime Griesemer considered illogical for a handgun. As such, during early Halo 2 production he spearheaded the change of the pistol to the Battle Rifle by taking the pistol's weapon tag and re-saved it as a new weapon, which he named the Battle Rifle.[4] The design for the weapon was handled by artist Robert McLees, who concepted, modelled, and textured the weapon. Early sketches for the weapon more closely resembled Combat Evolved's Assault Rifle, with a thumbhole stock that fully connected the grip to the magazine well. Some of the early sketches closely echo the design of the real-world FAMAS assault rifle, with some bearing rectangular or more angular rails and more integrated scope designs than the final release. One of McLees' early sketches was notably used as the design for the MA2B assault rifle featured in the Halo: Fall of Reach - Boot Camp comic.[3]
The weapon was first shown off in the Halo 2 announcement trailer in late 2002. In the Halo 2 E3 demo in mid-2003 the Battle Rifle made its gameplay debut. However, at this time the weapon was not a burst-fire weapon as shown in the final game, but instead a semi-automatic marksman rifle similar to the DMR later introduced in Halo: Reach. Additionally, it lacks the ammunition counter, and the Master Chief melees the weapon with an upward swing.
Gallery[edit]
Halo 2[edit]
John-117 reaches for a Battle Rifle aboard Cairo Station in the announcement trailer.
John-117 wielding a Battle Rifle aboard Cairo Station in the announcement trailer.
The Battle Rifle in an early build of Halo 2.
A render of the Battle Rifle.
Renders of the Battle Rifle.
John-117 carrying a Battle Rifle.
First-person view of the Battle Rifle.
Detail view through the Battle Rifle's scope.
A Marine holding a Battle Rifle.
A Marine holding a Battle Rifle.
A Flood combat form wielding a Battle Rifle.
Halo 2: Anniversary campaign[edit]
Concept art of the Battle Rifle.
Render of the Battle Rifle.
First-person view of the Battle Rifle.
The 2× zoom on the Battle Rifle.
John-117 wielding a Battle Rifle.
An ODST wields the Battle Rifle on Installation 05 in an early build of Halo 2: Anniversary.
The Battle Rifle being used by Marcus Stacker in the Blur Studio cutscene Another Day at the Beach.
Notes[edit]
- ^ Due to how tickrate is rounded down, the fire recovery time is ~0.266s rather than 0.26s.
Sources[edit]
- ^ Halo 2 Editing Kit, game file
tags\objects\weapons\rifle\battle_rifle\battle_rifle.weapon - ^ a b Halo 2 manual, page 11
- ^ a b c The Art of Halo, page 102-103
- ^ Twitter, Jaime Griesemer (@32nds): "@haileyx24 @MaxHoberman After Halo 1 shipped everyone loved the Pistol but it didn’t make sense that it was more powerful than any rifle. So during H2 prepro I clicked ‘save as’ on the “pistol” tag and called it the “battle rifle” and the artists built a new model." (Retrieved on Jan 27, 2023) [archive]
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