H2:Fuel Rod Gun

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Fuel Rod Cannon
The Fuel Rod Cannon in Halo 2 (top) and Halo 2: Anniversary campaign (bottom).
Gameplay role
Faction:	Covenant
Weapon tier (?):	Heavy weapon
Weapon class (?):	Launcher
Weapon type (?):	Explosive
Firing mode:	Semi-auto
Effective range:	Medium
Counterparts:	Human (UNSC) Rocket Launcher Covenant Brute Shot
Gameplay stats
Damage:	100 x0.5 vs shields
Splash damage:	90 out to 0.5 wu, down to 40 at 1.5 wu (radius)
Damage type (?):	Impact: explosion_large Detonation: explosion_largw
Projectile effects:	Tracking (wielded by NPCs only), Detonates on impact, Stuns Ai
Projectile speed:	15 wu/s out to 4.5 wu, down to 6.5 wu/s after 5 wu 2.5% gravity 6 degrees per second turning speed
Hitscan range (?):	0.5 wu
Max range (?):	80 wu
Rate of fire:	0.4s fire recovery time (2.5 rounds per second)
Spread (?):	0 to 0.05 degrees
Magazine size:	5 rounds
Reserve ammo capacity:	25 rounds (5 magazines)
Auto aim (?):	4 degrees out to 25 wu (scales with zoom)
Sticky aim (?):	6 degrees out to 25 wu (scales with zoom)
Zoom:	2x magnification
Melee damage (?):	Smash Melee
Tag name (?):	flak_cannon

The Fuel Rod Cannon, also known as the Fuel Rod Gun or Flak Cannon, is a Covenant heavy weapon featured in Halo 2 and the campaign of its remaster, Halo 2: Anniversary. For information on the separate variant featured in Anniversary multiplayer, see here.

Universe and lore

Main articles: Pez'tk-pattern fuel rod gun, Korva-pattern fuel rod gun

The Fuel Rod Cannon featured in the original release of Halo 2 is the Pez'tk-pattern fuel rod gun. It is a modified Fuel Rod design altered to better-suit the ergonomics of the Unggoy who frequently use the weapon.

In Halo 2: Anniversary the weapon reuses the model of the Korva-pattern fuel rod gun originally from Halo: Reach, the most widespread iteration of the design used by the Covenant.

Gameplay

Counterparts

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  Rocket Launcher

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  Brute Shot

Campaign

An Elite Zealot holding a Fuel Rod Gun.

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

The Fuel Rod Cannon made its debut as a useable campaign weapon in Halo 2. The original weapon in Halo: Combat Evolved was exclusively used by Spec Ops Grunts and would detonate after its operator was killed, and the game's PC port featured a similar weapon with some very distinct gameplay properties. Halo 2's Fuel Rod Cannon takes more gameplay inspiration from the NPC-only campaign variant in the first game, boasting a magazine of five rounds (up from the first game's four) and none of the battery/charge mechanics of the multiplayer version.

In Halo 2 the weapon is typically seen being wielded by Heavy Grunts or high-ranking Elites.

Multiplayer

The Fuel Rod Cannon does not appear in Halo 2 multiplayer in the game's original Xbox release. According to Bungie employee Dave Gasca in an interview concerning the weapon's inclusion in Halo: Reach, the weapon was traditionally not featured in matchmaking as its slow-moving projectiles would play havoc with networking. In custom gametypes which replace the map's set weapons with heavy weapons, the Covenant weapons are instead changed to Brute Shots.

In Halo: The Master Chief Collection, the Fuel Rod Cannon can be set as a spawn weapon in custom gametype options, but weapons-on-map will still use the Brute Shot as the Covenant's heavy weapon.

Production notes

Main article: Cut Halo: Combat Evolved weapons

The Fuel Rod Gun's design in Halo 2 is broadly inspired by the Flak Cannon developed during the production of Halo: Combat Evolved. During the game's production there were two Covenant launcher concepts fielded in early builds of the game: the Flak Cannon and Fuel Rod Gun. While the Fuel Rod Gun's design was ultimately featured in Combat Evolved as the Zasqi-pattern fuel rod gun, Bungie chose to redesign the Fuel Rod Cannon for Halo 2 with much inspiration taken from the Flak Cannon. This inspiration can be mostly seen in the main body of the weapon, though with the original Fuel Rod Gun's aft and magazine.

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  The Macworld Halo Flak Cannon.

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  The Combat Evolved Fuel Rod Gun.

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  Halo 2's Fuel Rod Gun, combining aesthetic influences from both.

Gallery

Halo 2

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  First-person view of the fuel rod cannon in Halo 2.

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  The 2× zoom of the fuel rod cannon in Halo 2. Note the scope design reused from the Carbine.

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  An Elite Ultra takes cover while holding a fuel rod cannon in Halo 2.

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  A Heretic Grunt using a Fuel Rod Gun.

Halo 2: Anniversary

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  A cutout of the weapon in Halo 2: Anniversary.

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  An Elite Zealot holding the weapon.

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  A Heretic Grunt using the weapon.

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  First-person view of the Fuel Rod Gun.

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  The 2× zoom on the weapon.