No weapon glitch

A player with no weapon, who is also performing an Alert carry.

The no weapon glitch is a glitch present in all the first-person shooter Halo games. It allows players to disarm their in-game characters.

Halo: Combat Evolved

A player with no weapon on Blood Gulch.

The No Weapon Glitch is not as well known in Halo: Combat Evolved, but the method is pretty simple. It works easily in Halo: Combat Evolved's PC port, but is harder on Xbox because there is less lag. The glitch may be performed in both Multiplayer and Campaign.

Multiplayer

There are two kinds of No Weapon Glitches on Halo PC's multiplayer: one from the host's perspective and one from the client's perspective, both of which need at least one other player to work with. Gather multiple different weapons together in a closed area, like in the Blood Gulch base. Then, have both players crouch on the pile of weapons while facing each other. Have both players swap weapons repeatedly over the stockpile. This should make both players continuously drop and pick up new weapons.

Eventually, a player will not be able to drop their weapon because the weapon starts "phantoming." All other players in the game will view them as if they had no weapon; the player they performed the glitch with should be similarly unarmed. The host may switch to their other weapon, but the game may automatically force a weapon switch after a certain amount of time. Clients will find that they cannot switch back to their original weapon because it has been deleted.

Campaign

The No Weapon glitch is more difficult in Halo: Combat Evolved's Campaign. It involves overloading the map with objects, such as weapons, grenades, and bodies, so that objects on the map start behaving erratically. Overloading is easiest on the Xbox version in Co-op; simply have a player kill their teammate over and over until their corpses accumulate. With a little luck, both players will despawn their weapons. Enemies' weapons can also despawn using this same method.

Observations

If a client who has no weapon is observed in Multiplayer, they will assume the animation for having no weapon, like in the first Campaign level, Pillar of Autumn.

However, if a client observes a host who has no weapon, they will look very different. The host assumes a phantom weapon stance, as they are actually still holding their weapon, but clients cannot see it. The host's pose inherits the pose of the equipped weapon; if they were holding, say, a sniper rifle when they lost their weapon, then their arms will look like they are holding a sniper rifle. They can still shoot and melee with their weapon, and if they switch weapons, clients will see a weapon floating in the air where they switched. They can also switch out their "phantomed" weapon for other weapons, changing how they hold their hands in the air.

Halo 2

A weaponless player on the Multiplayer map Ascension.

In Halo 2, the glitch requires an Oddball or skull and a Plasma Pistol.

Multiplayer

In Multiplayer, load up a game of Oddball where players spawn with only a Plasma Pistol. Find the Oddball, and have a player charge their Plasma Pistol. Walk over the Oddball and pick it up while still charging the Plasma Pistol. If done properly, the player charging their Plasma Pistol will drop both the Oddball and weapon: their hands will be empty, and no reticle will be present on their heads-up display. If a player without a weapon comes into contact with any weapon, they will automatically pick it up.

Campaign

This can also be done in Campaign, but requires a Skull. The level Outskirts is highly recommended because the Blind skull can be grabbed on any difficulty, and is available at the start of the level. First, have the desired player perform the Triple wielding glitch so that they have two Plasma Pistols. Find the Skull, and just like in Multiplayer, pick it up while charging one of the Plasma Pistols. Perform this glitch twice, as the player will still have one weapon. After the second time, the player should not be holding any weapons. However, with the abundance of weapons in campaign, it will be very difficult to avoid weapons on the ground. It is advised to carry the skull through the level to redo the glitch in case a weapon is accidentally picked up.

Observations

This can be used for some fun game types if everyone cooperates; it can also be used for making machinima. Notably, unarmed players using the Spartan player model can still throw grenades, but Elites can't; this is because Elites don't have an animation for performing this action when unarmed.

Halo 3

A disarmed player on Valhalla.

There are two methods to perform this glitch in Halo 3, one in Forge and one with a modded custom gametype.

Forge

The first method requires at least two players in Forge, either in split-screen or over Xbox LIVE. Have one player go into Edit Mode, while the other remains in Player Mode. The player in Edit Mode should spawn a weapon and place it on the ground. The other player should equip the weapon, and the editing player should delete the weapon at the same time. If performed correctly, the player in Player Mode should have dropped their weapon, and if performed incorrectly the player will pick up the weapon on the ground. If the player has two weapons, the glitch must be performed twice. Note that as in Halo 2, a weaponless player will automatically pick up any weapons they walk onto.

Custom Games

To have no weapons in Custom Games, a modded gametype where players start with a Flamethrower is needed. In order to create such a gametype, one should follow this guide on how to mod a gametype in Halo 3. Once in-game, simply drop the Flamethrower to have no weapons.

Halo: Reach