Pulse Carbine

Pulse Carbine
Gameplay role
Faction:	Covenant, Banished
Weapon tier (?):	Pickup weapon
Weapon class (?):	Assault Rifle
Effective range:	Close to medium
Counterparts:	Human (UNSC) Assault Rifle; Commando Banished Needler
Weapon stats
Damage:	Low
Damage type (?):	Plasma
Projectile speed:	Low
Rate of fire:	Medium
Variants and attachments
Halo Infinite variant(s):	Rapidfire Pulse Carbine

"Acquired from the independent artisan-armorers of Qikost, the Pulse Carbine fires controlled bursts of plasma with moderate tracking properties. Best used at short-to-mid range."

— Description

The Pulse Carbine is a Covenant assault rifle first introduced in Halo Infinite. Effective at close to medium ranges, it fires a burst of five projectiles which are capable of homing onto targets, dealing moderate plasma damage on impact.

Universe and lore

Main article: Erudo'ma'keth-pattern pulse carbine

The Erudo'ma'keth-pattern pulse carbine is a weapon developed by the and used by the military forces of the Covenant empire. After the empire's fall, production of the weapon resumed by the Elite Lodam Armory, and is now used by post-Covenant factions including the Banished.

Gameplay

Counterparts

Campaign

The Pulse Carbine is a weapon commonly utilized by Elites and Brutes during the Infinite campaign. Functioning akin to a Needler, the Pulse Carbine is a ranged-shield shredder, being able to home in on enemies from further ranges than the former, while dealing damage comparable to an MA40 AR with each burst. Like most weapons, the Pulse Carbine can be restocked through ammunition boxes and through other dropped Pulse Carbines.

The base variant of the Pulse Carbine is one of the few weapons that is unable to be unlocked through Valor, or spawned at a Forward Operating Base; despite this, the Rapidfire Pulse Carbine variant is able to be.

Multiplayer

"Burst-firing plasma weapon effective at close to medium range. Projectiles track targets."

— Weapon Drills description

In multiplayer, this weapon functions near identically to its campaign counterpart, although it has a much higher damage output relative to higher difficulty AI present on Heroic and Legendary. Like the Needler, the Pulse Carbine's projectiles will home in on enemy targets when they're aimed at, however, while the Needler's tracking is indiscriminate, the Pulse Carbine's projectiles will track specific parts of an enemy's body when aimed at. This turns the Carbine into a functional precision weapon, with a single burst being enough to effectively deplete another player's shields and two having the potential to kill outright if the player aims at the head. Assuming good accuracy, the Pulse Carbine can kill in ten rounds fired between two bursts.

Like the Needler, these projectiles will track an enemy through walls provided they were fired upon achieving a lock, and they will also effectively ignore their strafes and crouches at range. The lock of the Pulse Carbine also doesn't require direct aim at an enemy, providing a generous area around the enemy for the user to aim around. While the Pulse Carbine's projectiles can reliably track and kill at extended ranges, the weapon's close quarters ability is hindered as the slower projectiles are both easier to dodge, as well as harder to achieve a lock with.

The Pulse Carbine is a pickup weapon that can be found on certain weapon pads. Whether or not the Pulse Carbine spawns is up to chance, as its weapon pads may offer an MA40 AR instead, depending on the random weapon pad configuration generated at the start of the match. This weapon may also be spawned with in unique modes such as Fiesta or Banished Slayer.

Changes from Halo Infinite Multiplayer Tech Preview to Halo Infinite

The Pulse Carbine was altered to fire in a burst of five projectiles instead of three.

Changes from Halo Infinite to Winter Update

"The Pulse Carbine's plasma bursts will now better track enemies in short to mid-range combat, however, their tracking at longer ranges has been reduced."

— Winter Update patch notes.^[1]

Increased guided angular velocity at rest from 25 to 35 degrees per second.^[1]
Decreased angular velocity from 50 to 30 degrees per second.^[1]
Increased targeted leading fraction from 0.35 to 1.^[1]
Increased guided projectile error radius from 0.2 to 0.22 degrees.^[1]

Changes from Winter Update to Fall Update

The Pulse Carbine was added to the Weapons Bench.^[2]

Variants

Rapidfire Pulse Carbine

Main article: Rapidfire Pulse Carbine

The Rapidfire Pulse Carbine is a unique variant of the Pulse Carbine, featured in Halo Infinite's campaign and multiplayer. The Rapidfire variant of the Pulse Carbine differs from the standard design pattern in one major way—as its name suggests, it has an increased rate-of-fire. The outer carapace has a silver-white coloration, as opposed to the purple of the standard Pulse Carbine.

In the campaign, the Rapidfire Pulse Carbine is a legendary weapon awarded to the player after defeating the High Value Target, Inka 'Saham. Following this, the weapon can be acquired at any Forward Operating Base.

In multiplayer, this variant of the weapon is only naturally found in Big Team Battle, being a potential spawn weapon within the vaults on Fragmentation. Like its base variant, the Rapidfire Pulse Carbine can also be a spawn weapon in game modes such as Fiesta.

A Spartan wielding a Rapidfire Pulse Carbine.
A first-person view of the Rapidfire Pulse Carbine.

Production notes

During the development of Halo Infinite the Pulse Carbine would see many conceptual design iterations, with some early sketches for the weapon drawing from the Sulok-pattern beam rifle and the Kelos'vaarda-pattern storm rifle. At this point it would simple be known as the Covenant rifle.

Early concept art exploration for Halo Infinite of a "Covenant rifle" that would eventually become the Pulse Carbine. The top-right design designated "02" takes design elements from the Sulok-pattern beam rifle.
More early concept exploration of the Pulse Carbine.

Gallery

Concept art

More early concept exploration of the Pulse Carbine.
More early concept exploration of the Pulse Carbine.
More early concept exploration of the Pulse Carbine.
Concept art approaching the final design.
Finalized concept art of the Pulse Carbine.

HUD icons

Halo Infinite HUD icon for the weapon.

Screenshots

A Sangheili Mercenary wielding a Pulse Carbine in a pre-release build of Halo Infinite.
First person view of the Pulse Carbine in Halo Infinite.
A Spartan holding a Pulse Carbine in the A New Generation trailer.
Three Covenant Jiralhanae, including a Chieftain, wielding Pulse Carbines during the Battle for Earth.
A Spartan wielding a Pulse Carbine, next to its wall mount.
A Pulse Carbine being fired, close to an overheat.
A Pulse Carbine cooling down on its own.
A Pulse Carbine venting.
A Spartan holding the Pulse Carbine on Live Fire.
The Pulse Carbine venting.
A Jiralhanae warrior fires a Pulse Carbine.