H2:Beam Rifle

Beam Rifle
The Beam Rifles in Halo 2 (top) and the Halo 2: Anniversary campaign (bottom).
Gameplay role
Faction:	Covenant
Weapon class (?):	Rifle
Weapon type (?):	Energy
Firing mode:	Semi-automatic
Effective range:	Long
Counterparts:	Human (UNSC) Sniper Rifle
Gameplay stats
Damage:	45 x2 vs shields
Damage type (?):	Generic: plasma_fast Specific: sniper
Projectile effects:	Headshots
Projectile speed:	1200 wu/s
Hitscan range (?):	80 wu
Max range (?):	120 wu
Rate of fire:	0.25s fire recovery time (4 rounds per second)
Spread (?):	0.5 degrees 0 degrees zoomed
Battery:	-5.556% per shot (18 shots)
Heat:	Generation: +65% per shot Cooldown: -57.5% per second Overheated: -30% per second
Auto aim (?):	1 degree out to 10 wu (scales with zoom, zoom only)
Sticky aim (?):	4 degrees out to 14 wu (scales with zoom, zoom only)
Zoom:	3.5x to 9.5x magnification
Melee damage (?):	Strike Melee
Tag name (?):	beam_rifle

The Beam Rifle was a weapon introduced in Halo 2. This page focuses on the original Halo 2 game and the campaign of Anniversary. Information on the Beam Rifle in the multiplayer component of Halo 2: Anniversary can be found here.

Universe and lore

Main article: Sulok-pattern beam rifle

In both the original Halo 2, and Halo 2: Anniversary, the beam rifle used is the Sulok-pattern beam rifle, a Sniper used by the Covenant that fires ionised particle beams.

Gameplay

Counterparts

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  Sniper Rifle

Campaign

This section is a stub. You can help Halopedia by expanding it.

In the campaign of Halo 2 the Beam Rifle is first accessible in the second level, Outskirts, after which it shows up regularly throughout the game. It is mainly wielded by Jackal Snipers though sometimes appears in the hands of select Elites, too.

The weapon is notably used in the final mission of the game, wielded by Sergeant Johnson in the boss fight against Tartarus. Johnson uses the weapon to periodically drop Tartarus' energy shielding, providing windows for the player to deal damage to him.

Multiplayer

This section is a stub. You can help Halopedia by expanding it.

Production notes

Main article: Cut Halo: Combat Evolved weapons § Particle beam rifle

While the Beam Rifle was first included in Halo 2, its conceptual origins lie in a cut weapon developed during the production of Halo: Combat Evolved. Two designs of the Beam Rifle were created for Combat Evolved, though neither resemble the weapon that was included in Halo 2. The first design originated in Combat Evolved's 1999 third-person builds, resembling an enlarged Plasma Rifle. Early concept art shows this design in the hands of the cut Special Purpose Sniper enemy, the conceptual precursor to Halo 2's Jackal Snipers. The weapon was later canonised as the particle rifle used by the "Slugmen".

A second Combat Evolved Beam Rifle could be seen in several 2000-era screenshots, this time resembling a long polearm with trilateral symmetry. This weapon was conceptually revived and included in Halo Infinite as the Vestige Carbine.

Gallery

Prerelease Halo

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  Concept art for Halo: Combat Evolved's Special Purpose Sniper, wielding a Beam Rifle.

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  A player holding the 1999 Beam Rifle model.

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  A player holding the 2000 Beam Rifle model.

Halo 2

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  The Beam Rifle before Halo 2's release, considerably larger than the final version.

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  A profile view of the Beam Rifle in Halo 2.

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  A Special Operations Elite with a Beam Rifle before a mission.

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  A Special Operations Elite using a particle beam rifle in the heretics' base.

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  A Jackal Sniper holding a particle beam rifle during the level Outskirts.

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  A Kig-Yar Sniper holding a particle beam rifle on Installation 05.

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  Sergeant Major Johnson with a particle beam rifle in the control room.

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  The beam from a particle beam rifle in Another Day at the Beach.

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  A Sangheili firing a particle beam rifle on Zanzibar.

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  The particle beam rifle's scope in Halo 2.

Halo 2: Anniversary campaign

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  Blur Studio's concept art for the beam rifle in Halo 2: Anniversary's cutscenes.

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  Concept art of the beam rifle in Halo 2: Anniversary.

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  Concept art of the beam rifle in Halo 2: Anniversary.

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  Concept art for the beam rifle's internal workings.

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  A cutout of the weapon in Halo 2: Anniversary.

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  Johnson wielding the Beam Rifle in Halo 2: Anniversary.

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  John-117 holding the Beam Rifle in Halo 2: Anniversary.

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  Jackal Snipers firing their Beam Rifles in Halo 2: Anniversary.

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  First-person view of the Beam Rifle in Halo 2: Anniversary.

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  The weapon's 5× zoom.

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  The weapon's 10× zoom.