Gameplay

User:XScruffyDaSasquatchx/Machine Pistols

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This article documents its subject as it pertains to the gameplay of the Halo games, rather than the lore.
Machine Pistol
The HUD Icon for the Halo: Spartan Assault Machine Pistols, found in the files of Halo: Spartan Strike. Never used in-game, but useful nonetheless.
Gameplay role

Faction:

Human (UNSC)

Weapon tier (?):

Loadout weapon

Firing mode:

Automatic

Effective range:

Short

Counterparts:

Human (UNSC):

Covenant:

Forerunner:

Gameplay stats

Damage:

Low

Damage type (?):

Kinetic

Projectile speed:

Slow

Rate of fire:

High

Magazine size:

256 bullets

Variants and attachments

Attachments:

  • Capacity Upgrade I
  • Capacity Upgrade II
  • Capacity Upgrade III
 

"Machine pistols are sloppy, but when I need to fight Flood Infection forms, sloppy's the best thing on the menu."
— Private Lewis Allen[1]

The Machine Pistol is a human loadout weapon, exclusively seen in Halo: Spartan Assault's co-op Flood missions. It is an automatic weapon which fires very inaccurately and deals little damage, but has a fast rate of fire and a large ammo capacity to compensate.[2]

Universe and lore

Main article: M6/Z magnum

The M6/Z Magnum is a machine pistol that comprised part of Misriah Armory's venerable M6 series, a long-running line of personal defence weapons. It is fully-automatic, and specially modified for use in high-risk, close-quarters scenarios such as ship boarding actions.[3] Though it was very inaccurate, even described as "sloppy" by Private Lewis Allen,[1] it made up for this with its incredibly high rate of fire.[3]

Misriah first introduced the M6/Z some time before late 2552. It did not see widespread use, but it did find utility against Flood during the UNSC's brief encounter with the parasite towards the end of the Human-Covenant War,[3] particularly against infection forms like pod infectors.[1] The weapon was also present in TACSIM training simulations hosted by Roland aboard the UNSC Infinity, at some point after December 5, 2557.[4][5][Note 1] These simulated a Forerunner location called X-40, and populated it with Flood forms, in order to train Spartans to fight the parasite, should the UNSC ever encounter it again.[2][4]

Overview

"Short range dual-wielded machine gun pistols"
— Halo: Spartan Assault weapon summary[6]

The Machine Pistol is a light grey pistol with a short barrel, a foregrip, a tall sight at the front of the weapon and a long magazine protruding from the bottom of its rear grip. It fires very inaccurately, has a short range and deals little damage, however sports a very large ammo capacity and fires very fast. Like many other sidearms in Spartan Assault, the player's Spartan will dual-wield Machine Pistols when picked up.[2][6]

Attachments

At Halo: Spartan Assault's co-op loadout screen, if one of the two loadout options contains the Machine Pistol, the player can optionally equip it with one of three attachments, all of which increase its ammunition capacity by various degrees. These apply to all Machine Pistols in the match - not just the one the player spawns with. The upgrades will take effect for both players regardless of who bought it, and if both players purchase the upgrades, the increase in ammo will stack. This allows for a total ammunition increase of +90%. Upgrades will only apply for a single mission, and are single-use; they will need to be purchased again next time the player plays the same mission.[2][6]

The three upgrades are as follows:

Name Price Description
Capacity Upgrade I CR 20 / XP 400 Increases maximum ammo capacity and ammo in pickups by 15%, for all instances of this weapon
Capacity Upgrade II CR 30 / XP 600 Increases maximum ammo capacity and ammo in pickups by 30%, for all instances of this weapon
Capacity Upgrade III CR 40 / XP 800 Increases maximum ammo capacity and ammo in pickups by 45%, for all instances of this weapon

Counterparts

The Machine Pistol has no direct counterparts within the co-op Flood missions, as only a limited set of weapons appear in this mode. However, there are a number of other weapons in Halo: Spartan Assault and the Halo franchise in general which serve a similar role.

On the human, UNSC side, there is the SMG. Like the Machine Pistol, the SMG is an automatic sidearm, which deals very little damage per hit but has a fast rate of fire. The SMG appears in the Spartan Assault main campaign, where it fulfills a role very similar to that of the Machine Pistol, but is replaced by the Machine Pistols in its co-op missions. Like the Machine Pistols, it is dual wielded in Spartan Assault and is fully automatic, but it is significantly more accurate.

The Covenant uses a number of weapons similar in operation to the Machine Pistol. The Okarda'phaa-pattern plasma rifle and Kewu R'shi'k-pattern plasma rifle are automatic weapons which fire plasma bolts which deal light damage, and are somewhat inaccurate. Furthermore, the Needler is an automatic Covenant sidearm which fires slow-moving pink needles that home in on the target, and can cause a "supercombine" explosion if enough projectiles connect with the target. Finally, the Paegaas Workshop Spiker is an automatic weapon which fires superheated spikes which travel very quickly, but deals little damage to enemies. Of these four, only the Needler appears in Spartan Assault, being present in the campaign mode, but not co-op.

The Forerunner Prometheans have a similar weapon known as the Suppressor. It fires hardlight bolts which deal light damage to enemies. The weapon is incredibly inaccurate, but has a large magazine and fires very fast. Although it does not appear in Spartan Assault, the Suppressor is present in Spartan Strike, where it serves a gameplay role almost identical to that of the Machine Pistol, albeit with a much reduced ammunition capacity.