Cut Halo 5: Guardians weapons

During the development of Halo 5: Guardians, a number of various weapons were concepted and prototyped by 343 Industries for inclusion in the game, though were ultimately cut for various reasons.

Arm-mounted railgun
Concepted by Paul Richards, the "UNSC Arm-Mounted Railgun" appears to be a railgun weapon intended for mounting in the back compartment of a D79-TC Pelican. The weapon is equipped with an arm connected to the dropship, as to support the Spartans holding it.

Glass cutter
The glass cutter was likely intended to be a support weapon based around the concept of a tool developed for cutting through the glass on Meridian. The weapon was concepted by David Bolton.

Grenade launcher CLUSTER
The Grenade Launcher CLUSTER is an unused REQ weapon that can be found within the files of Halo 5: Forge. The weapon appears to have been fully modelled, textured, and functionally implemented in-game based on the existing Grenade Launcher. It is unknown why it was cut from the game.

Like other M319 grenade launchers, it can be fired immediately or held down to manually detonate on release. Additionally, manual detonation results in an EMP effect. Upon detonation, the projectile will split into 8 separate projectiles dealing damage in an area. Due to the spread and EMP effect, the secondary fire could be useful in disabling air vehicles. The splinters attempt to assemble into the same shape made by splinters of the traditional splinter grenade. Said shape is a plus-shape viewed from one side and a horizontal hexagon viewed perpendicular to that side.

Other weapons
Other weapon silhouettes were produced by Paul Richards.

Early Needler design
This cut Needler design was originally prototyped by artist Can Tuncer for use in Halo 4 - but was ultimately never realised in the final game. It was later taken and expanded upon by Kolby Jukes for inclusion in Halo 5: Guardians, with additional bio-organic detail based on the Harvester Jukes had previously created for Spartan Ops. Ultimately, this design was never realised in either game.

Plasma launcher
The initial release of the Warzone Firefight update saw the inclusion of the Type-52 plasma launcher into Halo 5 for a brief time. The weapon was featured as used by Grunt enemies in the Warzone Firefight gamemode, and could be picked up and used by players. The weapon had no first-person model, but could be viewed in third-person. When fired, the plasma shots had no visible model or effect. The weapon was eventually removed from the game.

Forerunner socket weapons
For the most part these weapons were concepted by Paul Richards as part of the Forerunner socket system extensively developed for - and cut from - the game.

Brute weapons
Files within Halo 5: Guardians show that 343 Industries was planning on releasing some Brute weapons into the Halo 5 sandbox - possibly to coincide with the release of Halo Wars 2. These weapons coincide with a new scope variant planned for inclusion for use on loadout weapons. These weapons may have also served as prototypes for the Brute sandbox later featured in Halo Infinite.

Brute sniper rifle
The brute sniper rifle was going to be a weapon in Halo 5: Guardians that would have served the role of a precision sniper rifle. The weapon holds four rounds in its magazine, with an additional 12 rounds storage for a total capacity of 16 rounds. The Subanese crystal needle fired from the sniper is the same model fired by the Needler, albeit recoloured and larger - intended as a placeholder. These rounds impale themselves in players and scenery upon impact and explode a few seconds after hitting their target, though the explosion is fairly small and likely only to hit the enemy if they stand atop the spike or are impaled. It takes one body shot with the explosion effect to drop a Spartan's energy shielding and another body shot to kill, though headshots cause an instalkill. The Brute sniper rifle has a 3.5 second reload speed.

Brute magnetic missile
The Brute magnetic missile was to serve as Brute-themed rocket launcher equivalent. The weapon holds only one round in its magazine, with a reserve of 5 rounds. The rocket fired from the weapon is a shot that splits into five smaller rounds mid-flight, which then proceed to arc downward explode after a few seconds after hitting the ground. The explosive effect of the projectiles cause an EMP which can completely disable vehicles, alongside dealing heavy damage.

The magnetic missile can kill a Spartan in one shot, and has a reload speed of five seconds.

Brute spiker
The Brute spiker was a weapon presumably intended to bring the Type-25 Spiker previously featured in Halo 3, Halo 3: ODST and Halo: Reach into Halo 5: Guardians. The weapon holds 30 rounds in its magazine, with a reserve of 80 for a total of 110 rounds. The weapon uses Blamite Needler rounds as a placeholder to represent the spikes and the model of the Boltshot in lieu of a proper Spiker weapon model. Although using the Needler's ammunition, the Spiker behaves akin to its Halo 3 incarnation, and has no lock on capabilities. It takes roughly twelve rounds to drop shields while hitting the body, and then six or more for the kill.

The Spiker has a 1.5 second reload speed.

Brute gatling mortar
Intended as the Brutes' support weapon, the gatling mortar uses the model of the assault cannon as a placeholder. The weapon does not have an ammunition count, instead displaying the HUD icon for the plasma cannon and its ammo percentage meter. Despite the presence of this HUD element, the meter does not count down while firing, likely due to the weapon's unfinished nature. The projectiles that are fired from the gun are fast firing explosive bolts. It takes only five of these rounds to drop a fully shielded player, when hit anywhere on the body.

Interestingly, the gatling mortar has some broad similarities to the Scrap Cannon featured in Halo Infinite.

Brute scopes
Contained within the files of Halo 5: Forge are scopes of Brute origin. The scopes are compatible with the Battle Rifle and Assault Rifle, and may have been intended to coincide with the 2016-2017 release of Halo Wars 2 - which primarily focused on the Banished as an enemy.

Early Promethean scope
Early builds and concept art show an earlier revision of the Morph sight available for use in the final game.

Test weapons
These weapons can be found within the files of Halo 5: Forge and made functional via modding. They consist of various weapon prototypes tested by 343 Industries but ultimately never implemented.

Test laser guided
The laser guided weapon test uses the Binary Rifle model. When fired, it launches a large explosive projectile. While firing from the hip, the projectile simply travels on the vector it was initially fired - ultimately detonating when it impacts an obstacle. By comparison, while aimed in, the weapon allows the user to guide the projectile where they aim.

Test launcher
The test launcher uses the Incineration Cannon model, and seems to perform more-or-less the same as its Halo 4 incarnation.

Test mine layer
The mine layer employs an untextured model of the Concussion Rifle. When fired, it launches a small projectile that bounces on the ground before exploding. If the projectile hits a character, it will stick to them like a Plasma Grenade. Given these effects, the mine layer may have been an early test for the Plasma Caster.

Test multi lock
The multi lock uses the Railgun model. When fired, it launches three small projectiles that stick to surfaces and characters, and detonate after a small time.

Test supercombine rifle
The supercombine rifle uses an untextered Beam Rifle model. When fired, the weapon exhibits effects similar to the supercombine function of the Needler and Needle Rifle - the first projectile to hit a character will do moderate damage, while the second will cause a supercombine explosion and kill them completely.