Plasma weaponry

A Sangheili Officer firing a plasma repeater and an Unggoy Major firing an plasma pistol in Visegrád.

Plasma weaponry refers to directed energy weapons that utilise plasma to do damage to a target. Covenant military forces use plasma in weapons to great effect.

Operation

The plasma weapons of the Covenant were originate from the era of Sangheili colonial expansion prior to the empire's formation. They are constructed by encasing a Forerunner plasma generator reliquary core inside Sangheili-designed and San'Shyuum-refined controls and restrictors. The weapon uses aforementioned plasma generator to convert a quantity of liquified carrier gas into superheated plasma by passing it through an electrical arc, where it is stripped of electrons, turned into plasma, and then encased inside a magnetic capsule which keeps the plasma tightly bound until it impacts a target. The magnetic field generator has been likened to a sophisticated focusing lens, without which a plasma weapon may simply exhale a cloud of superheated gas with no functional effect. However, for some larger starship-mounted weapons (such as the Covenant's excavation beams), the focusing lens may use gravity technology to augment the magnetic fields to help compress and guide the plasma.

The plasma projectile's impact deals damage both through the thermal effect of the plasma (melting armour and causing burn injuries on victims) and through kinetic shock against flesh.

Most plasma weapons consist of near-identical subassemblies placed above and below the trigger assembly, producing a shape resembling a claw. These generators then fire in sequence, releasing their plasma from the charging and accelerator poles. While efficient, the weapons produce significant amounts of waste heat, restricting how long they can be fired for before the weapon overheats. Plasma weapons in this configuration fire small bolts of plasma in a rapidfire manner.

During the era of the Covenant, these designs were subject to San'Shyuum scrutiny and refinement, though artisan-armorers in the post-war years have since been more free to experiment and upgrade as they see fit.

Defense against plasma weaponry

Complete armor protection against plasma is generally difficult to accomplish due to plasma's high damage ratio. The armor used by the UNSC Marine Corps and UNSC Army usually provides good protection from plasma, but only to a certain extent. A series of hits from a plasma weapon will literally melt or burn the armor, rendering it useless. Likewise, the Spartans' MJOLNIR armor will eventually give way to the plasma. Newer versions of the MJOLNIR armor boast energy shields, which provide additional protection from plasma, although shielding systems can be completely depleted by sustained plasma fire, or a single, overcharged bolt.

The armor of neither Covenant nor UNSC warships provides significant protection against plasma, which will melt through the hulls of both. The flame caused by a Seraph fighters’ plasma charge have a temperature of approximately 3,000 degrees Celsius, while titanium, a key component of UNSC ship armor, has a melting point of 1668 degrees Celsius. In all encounters with Covenant ships, plasma-based weaponry has melted through and disabled UNSC ships in a matter of seconds.

Applications

Plasma-based weapons are the most common armament of Covenant infantry and vehicular forces, and the main armament of their warships, dominating almost their entire weapon arsenal. Small arms are designed to deplete shielding or melt infantry armor, while heavier weapons can destroy vehicles or buildings. The largest are mounted onto capital ships and are used for orbital bombardment and ship-to-ship combat, and can reduce a ship's hull to a pile of molten metal floating in space. When a plasma weapon is charging, a high quantity of beta particle radiation is emitted. Covenant species have developed a natural resistance against the radiation emitted by their plasma weapons, a form of "forced evolution". During the Human-Covenant War, UNSC scientists studied this phenomenon in an attempt to use it to their advantage, such as helping in the treatment of plasma burns on humans.

The UNSC has yet to develop its own plasma weaponry, instead using more conventional projectile-based weapon systems. However, the UNSC has been seen to operate captured Covenant plasma weapons, and in one case, UNSC forces were able to dramatically improve the lethality of a captured Covenant starship's plasma turrets without significant technical modifications. There was an attempt to produce a tank with plasma-based weaponry for the UNSC armed services, but it was abandoned, falling back on projectile weaponry.

List of plasma weapons

For a full list of plasma weapons, see here.

Trivia

Frank O'Connor, Bungie's former head of public relations, stated in 2006 that the plasma used by the Covenant is not plasma as current science knows it, but something "far more dangerous, arcane, and destructive." This claim has not been elaborated on in later sources and some actually indicate otherwise, with Halo 4: The Essential Visual Guide specifically making a note that the Covenant used conventional plasma in imitation of Forerunner particle weaponry.