Sicatt Workshop shock rifle

Sicatt Workshop Shock Rifle
Production overview
Manufacturer:	Sicatt Workshop Armory of Reckoning
Type:	Directed-energy sniper rifle
Variants:	Purging Shock Rifle
Specifications
Length:	148 centimeters (58.2 in)
Ammunition type:	Electromagnetically guided plasma
Feed system:	12 bolts/magazine
Rate of fire:	Burst Semi-automatic
Effective range:	At least roughly 300m
Service history
In service:	Post-Covenant War conflicts Operation: WOLFE Battle for Zeta Halo

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The Shock Rifle is a Banished electromagnetic weapon with a dual firing mode. The primary mode is used for suppression, building up a chain EMP shock effect on the target and broadcasting their location. The second firing mode requires a short charge-up time to unleash a single EMP-inducing bolt.

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The Sicatt Workshop Volt Piercer, commonly called the shock rifle, is a Banished directed-energy sniper rifle. It is notable for its electrolaser burst capable of disabling energy shielding and even some vehicles.

Overview

Design details

The shock rifle is a directed-energy weapon employed by the Banished and designed for the large frames of Jiralhanae warriors. As such, the shock rifle has massive proportions, most easily seen by its prominent rear grip. Beneath this grip is a sizeable curved blade, similar to that seen on the Type-25 Brute Shot. On the forward edge of this blade is a leather-wrapped handle used for holding the rifle steady while firing. Above this is the barrel, covered partially by a shroud that splits into three sections with each burst from the weapon. Just behind the barrel sits a sight that provides some magnification for the user. Behind this rests the top-mounted battery pack.

Operation

In its standard firing mode, the shock rifle fires a burst of three electrolasers, with an effective range of at least roughly three hundred meters. The shock rifle also features an alternative fire mode requiring a short charge time to unleash a single powerful EMP-inducing bolt. In any of the weapon's firing modes, the electrolasers are capable of emitting an electromagnetic pulse, and as few as three standard shots are capable of downing the shields on an F-41 Broadsword fighter. When used against MJOLNIR GEN3 armor, shock rifles are capable of knocking out the integrated systems inside the helmet, including playing havoc with the integrated night vision device, heads-up display, energy shielding, smart link, and magnetic weapon mounts. If the shock rifle is fired on a target with others tightly gathered around it, electricity can arc between the targets, dealing damage to each of them. Some vehicles like the M12B Warthog and Banished Ghost can become temporarily disabled if repeatedly fired upon by the rifle.

The shock rifle's top-loaded battery pack contains a charge of power units, a quarter of which are rapidly spent in each burst from the weapon. When fired, the shock rifle emits a characteristic sizzle sound.

Development history

A holographic diagram of the shock rifle.

"Let it never be said that a Jiralhanae lacks the ambition to explore what can be achieved through our minds as well as our might."

— Vulcus reflects on Sicatt Workshop's progress with voltaic application devices.

The shock rifle was developed by Sicatt Workshop technicians aboard the Banished dreadnought Ghost of Barolon. It is the latest in a line of experimental voltaic application devices derived from the fragments of Jiralhanae technological knowledge that survived Doisac's nuclear civil war. After the Sicatt Workshop technicians finished their work on the standard shock rifle, they submitted their work for Vulcus of the Alchemy Corps to review. Ultimately, Vulcus believed that the design could be developed even further, with his goal for the shock rifle to match precision and power such that it could take down the shields of a human strike fighter. The shock rifle entered service within the Banished shortly before their mission to Reach in 2559. During the Battle for Zeta Halo, the shock rifle was manufactured at the Armory of Reckoning.

Usage

Shock rifles were widely employed by the Jiralhanae troops of the Gray Guards during Operation: WOLFE, and by Escharum's forces as they fought for control of Installation 07 in 2560. The weapons are charged and maintained at local Banished armory outposts.

Variants

• Purging Shock Rifle: A modified variant of the shock rifle with a magazine size of fifteen bolts. It fires in bursts of five with every pull of the trigger, giving it three shots before reloading. It has a white chassis. The Skimmer Alpha used this variant during the Battle for Zeta Halo.

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  Purging Shock Rifle

Gameplay

Halo Infinite

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Semi-automatic rifle intended to support from a long distance. Projectiles arc on impact to damage nearby targets.

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In the campaign, the shock rifle has a magazine size of twenty units, and five are spent with each pull of the trigger. As such, the weapon fires in five-round bursts and can be fired four times before needing to be reloaded. In the campaign, the Shock Rifle is wielded by the Skimmers, Brute Snipers, Elite Ultras and Regulator Sentinels. However, in multiplayer, the shock rifle has a magazine size of twelve units. Three of these units are spent with each trigger pull, thus requiring the rifle to be reloaded after every four shots.

In both cases, the shock rifle is a medium-to-long-range weapon. It takes two body shots to kill a fully-shielded Spartan in multiplayer. However, a single burst from the shock rifle can kill a fully-shielded Spartan if all three electrolasers in the burst are headshots, even though a single body shot cannot fully deplete the shield. If fired at a living enemy with other enemies closely gathered around, the electric damage can arc between them. Its shots can also arc off of vehicles and other gameplay objects, such as weapons, and the flagpoles in Capture the Flag. In the event that drivable vehicles such as Ghosts or Warthogs are hit by two or more shots from a shock rifle, they will become temporarily disabled, along with any other vehicle close to them.

Production notes

During the Halo Infinite Multiplayer Tech Preview in September 2021, the shock rifle sported a magazine containing twenty units of ammunition, rather than the twelve in the multiplayer of the final game. Its electrolasers also fired in five-round bursts, instead of bursts of three. Thus, it operated identically to how it does in the final game's campaign.

Gallery

Browse more images in this article's gallery page.

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  The first in-game look at the shock rifle in Halo Infinite.

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  A render of the shock rifle.

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  The shock rifle being fired, first-person POV.

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  A Skimmer wielding a shock rifle.

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  The shock rifle's targeting scope.

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  A Jiralhanae sniper uses a shock rifle to disable a Warthog.

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  A well-placed shock rifle blast electrocutes this trio of Skimmers.

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  Reloading the shock rifle.

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  A UNSC marine equipped with a shock rifle.

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  A Regulator Sentinel firing a shock rifle.

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  A Banished Sangheili Ultra firing a shock rifle.

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  A Spartan with a shock rifle.

List of appearances

• Halo: Shadows of Reach (First appearance)
• Become
  • Carry On
  • Forever We Fight
• Halo Infinite
• Halo: The Rubicon Protocol (Mentioned only)