Okarda'phaa-pattern plasma rifle

The Type-25 Directed Energy Rifle, a.k.a. Plasma Rifle is a Covenant ground firearm.

It is a common light weapon in the Covenant Army, primarily wielded by Elites. However, Jackals, Brutes, and Grunts are able to, and have been seen wielding the weapon. The Plasma Rifle uses super-heated plasma instead of projectile ammunition, firing directed energy bolts. This means that the weapon draws from a power source to generate its energy bolts rather than firing individual cased projectiles like a conventional weapon. The base power output of the rifle is 100-150 Kv @ 2-3 dA, and the rate of fire is 420 to 600 rounds per minute. The Plasma Rifle is particularly effective against shielded opponents. Although over extended periods of firing it can overheat, causing it to unusable for a short period of time.

It is often found throughout the Halo series wielded by Elites and Brutes, but has also been wielded by Jackals, Grunts, and is found quite often in Covenant supply cases. Many other weapons are based off its design.

The Plasma Rifle is powered by an ultra dense extreme high temperature superconducting matrix capacitor bank, grown using an unknown molecular deposition technique. The bolts are developed by manipulating a high voltage, low current spark. There are two elongated toroidal electromagnets above and below the spark gap electrodes within the weapon. These turn at high velocities in opposite directions to create interacting magnetic fields which force the ionic plasma in the spark into a toroidal shape which is in turn forced forward away from the electrodes. As long as these plasma toroid move above a certain velocity, the ions cannot recombine and hence blooming can not occur. The trigger is non-mechanical, it is a pressure pad that completes a circuit when a threshold is reached. The outer-shell of the weapon consists of boric and cobalt composite ceramic. The weapon can only be recharged at non-mobile consoles which has yet to be seen in the Halo universe.

Advantages
The Plasma Rifle is a near to a medium range weapon, has a very high rate of fire, and inflicts very high shield damage. This weapon can also be used at long range if the user fires slowly and aims carefully, but this is usually not as effective compared to using this weapon at short range. Like other plasma weapons, the plasma rifle is very effective at depleting shields, though not as effectively as the Plasma Pistol's overcharged shot. The Plasma Rifle is also dual wieldable. A quick two second burst from two dual wielded Plasma Rifles into a Hunter's weak spot will kill it instantly. The Plasma Rifle is quite easy to aim at short range, so there is a big advantage against Flood Combat Forms because you can aim the Plasma Rifle at the center of the Flood where the Infection Form's sensory appendages are sticking out for an instant kill, but be aware of other Infection Forms, as they can revive the Combat Form if you do this, unless you quickly destroy the body. The Plasma Rifle also has an extremely fast melee attack, making it a good weapon to take out someone's shields, and then quickly finish the job. An easy way to get a kill with a Plasma Rifle is to aim for the head. It will take about 2 shots to take out the shields, then another 2 shots to kill the person if you're aiming at the head, but only at close range. A commonly used strategy is to dual wield Plasma Rifles then beat your opponent down. Also an effective strategy is to wield a Plasma Rifle and have an Assault Rifle or SMG in your holster, destroy an enemy's shield using the Plasma Rifle then either quickly melee them or shoot them with a solid projectile weapons such as the Assault Rifle for a quick and easy kill. This also works with the Plasma Pistol's overcharged shot. It is one of the only three weapons that appears in every level, in every game, in the Halo Trilogy. Also the Plasma Rifle, like most plasma-based weapons, does not need to be reloaded. If you blast it on “full-auto” without any pauses, you can fire 18 shots. This is more than enough to then switch weapons and finish them off with any other weapon.

Disadvantages
The Plasma Rifle overheats very quickly when used in automatic firing mode and rapid firing (In Halo 2, the Brute Plasma Rifle overheats much faster than the Elite Plasma Rifle, but does slightly more damage per hit and has a faster rate of fire). Also, the player cannot recharge the Plasma Rifle, so it must be replaced when depleted. While extremely effective at depleting enemies' shields, the Plasma Rifle doesn't deal as much physical damage as solid projectile weapons. The Plasma Rifle can kill someone by itself, but it takes a long time. Only when duel wielding Plasma Rifles can you kill someone within a quick amount of time. This can be avoided by dual wielding, a solid projectile weapon in your other hand, for example the SMG or the Spiker. It also runs out of ammo very quickly when in automatic firing mode. Also the animation for overheating partially blocks the screen, obscuring your view of opponents, and leaving you particularly vulnerable to their fire. In addition, the faster you fire, the less accurate the beams become, diverting from the original target more and more.

Campaign Recommendations
In both Halo: Combat Evolved and Halo 2, the Plasma Rifle's high rate of fire and moderate damage can be used to quickly neutralize low level enemies such as Grunts, Drones, and Infection Forms. Against enemies with energy shielding, the Plasma Rifle can quickly deplete that shielding and leave them vulnerable to a lethal headshot from an M6 pistol, Covenant Carbine or Battle Rifle, or sprays from an SMG. In addition, the valuable stun effect of the Plasma Rifle often stops or slows down the enemy long enough to prevent their melee. However, the plasma rifle can be ineffective against some enemies, notably the Hunters. Unlike in the previous two games, dual-wielding Plasma Rifles in Halo 3 is a very effective way of combating the Flood in campaign on all difficulties, most especially the shielded Elite, which often proves to be one of the most difficult campaign enemies due to their shields which can easily be depleted using the Plasma Rifle. Arguably, it is more effective than any other dual-wielded weapon. Due to the shield-taking nature of the Plasma Rifle and the armor-destroying capability of the SMG, it is best wielded with the SMG for close-medium range. It is also quite effective when dual-wielded against Hunters in Halo 3. However you must hit its weak spot, and better weapons are usually available for getting rid of Hunters. It is also good for Ranged Forms in Halo 3. Dual Wielding two Plasma Rifles in the Halo 3 level Cortana is very effective taking out Infection Forms and tearing apart Combat Forms; this tactic is very effective on higher difficulties. Many people have been known to complete Halo 3 using only this combination.

Multi-player Recommendations
The Plasma Rifle has limited uses in Multi-player, but is still a useful weapon, especially if dual-wielded or if playing on a close-quarters map. Dual-wielding increases the combined rate of fire and damage. Although its range limits the weapon to close quarter and medium range fire fights, if used properly a player can quickly dispose of a far away enemy but if it's possible you should get in close. It is also advisable to carry a mid to long range weapon such as a Battle Rifle or Sniper Rifle for backup against targets outside of the Plasma Rifle's range. It has the fastest melee attack of any weapon except for the Energy Sword, and it's melee is also powerful. In Halo 3, this weapon can easily overpower an Assault Rifle if the melee is used in conjunction well with the energy shield depleting shots, allowing an easy take down, however at medium range the Assault Rifle is likely to overpower the Plasma Rifle. The reason for the Plasma Rifle's superiority is the fact that it is more accurate than the Assault Rifle, yet does the same, if not more, amount of damage. This weapon is also very effective on overshields.

Halo: Combat Evolved
The Plasma Rifle in Halo:Combat Evolved is far more powerful and accurate than its Halo 2 counterpart. Also in Halo: Combat Evolved, the Plasma Rifle fires a little bit more slowly than in the other games. Furthermore, the weapon held a unique ability to stun opponents that were hit by high velocity heated plasma rounds, this effect greatly reduces the victim's ability to move and dodge the incoming projectiles and allows the user to easily hold the opponent in the weapon's firing arc. However, the drawback was that this effect is only felt with continuous fire. While stunned, the weapon will often overheat before the opponent is completely killed. Despite this drawback, the stun ability is a useful and potent feature in the hands of an experienced user. In campaign mode, the plasma rifle is best used against the Sentinels and Elites. Sentinels always have a soft spot to Covenant Weapons and it can be very useful in taking down Elites' shields when rapid firing. It should also be noted that this weapon behaved more like a rifle than its successor, having about twice the firing range, and that the Plasma Rifle decreases its accuracy while heating up, becoming even as inaccurate as its Halo 2 counterpart. However, burst-firing the weapon, releasing 2-3 bolts per firing, can counteract this. This will allow the weapon to be used for a longer period of time before it actually overheats, and more accuracy allowing you to hit long-range targets. Also, the rifle was much more bulkier than in Halo 2, like the Plasma Pistol and the Needler. Interestingly, it makes exactly the same sound as the Plasma Pistol.

Halo 2
Halo 2's Plasma Rifle is not as powerful or accurate as its predecessor and lacks the ability to stun. These drawbacks are compensated by a higher rate of fire and the ability to dual-wield the weapon, allowing it to be paired with a wide variety of other weapons from Halo 2 and creating powerful combination. The changes done to the weapon are directly related to the inclusion of dual-wielding and higher rate of fire. For purposes of balance, the Plasma Rifle, along with many others from Halo: Combat Evolved, was tweaked to better fit the new game's fighting style. The weapon takes an opponent's shields off with five shots, but it takes many more to kill. This version of the Plasma Rifle behaves more as a (SMG) rather than a rifle.

It has medium accuracy, but, when dual wielded, if both rifles are fired simultaneously, the accuracy will decrease greatly.

Plasma Rifles are also the basis for several other weapon systems, including the Twin Plasma Cannons on Ghosts, Halo 2 Wraiths, and Banshees. The weapon is not to be confused with the Brute Plasma Rifle, which is a faster, red version of the Plasma Rifle.

Halo 3
In Halo 3, Plasma Rifles are made even more powerful than their Halo: Combat Evolved and Halo 2's counterparts like most of the new weapons in Halo 3. Their bolts are graphically redesigned to have a more vivid look. The bolts seem to travel faster than those of its previous versions, reducing the need to "lead" or "direct" the shots at mid to long ranges. This may be because the plasma rifle is the signature weapon of the Elites, and following the Covenant Civil War they were free to tamper with the workings of their weapons, whereas before it was considered "perfect", due to the Covenant reverse-engineering it from supposedly "flawless" Forerunner technology. After a few shots the weapon becomes very inaccurate to fire, so you may want to consider shooting in short controlled spurts and bursts. Also, unlike in previous games, the plasma rifle is very effective against the Flood, even more so than its human counterpart. It takes 18 blasts to kill an enemy with normal shields in Halo 3, but one shot to the Infection Forms roosting in the Flood Infection Forms will instantly kill it. This makes it effective against shields and semi-effective for flesh, making it a much more formidable weapon then its previous version. The weapon also gets a slight graphical overhaul, making it slightly more detailed and polished.

Tips and Strategies

 * If you're in close combat with someone and you have the Plasma Rifle, you should fire at them, take out their shields and melee them to kill them. This works well when faced with an opponent wielding bullet-based weaponry, as their shields will probably fall faster than yours, unless you are unlucky enough to be caught by surprise.
 * Killing with the Plasma Rifle is not an easy task when faced with armor, so most of the time you should take out an enemies shield with it then melee them.
 * In Halo 2 and 3, dual wielding in conjunction with a weapon that does high flesh damage (i.e. SMG or Mauler) can be very effective if the Rifle is first used to deplete the target's shields, then the additional weapon is used to finish the kill.
 * In maps with the Plasma Rifle you should go to secluded places that many people walk by. The people walking by most likely won't see you, you can take out their shields easily with the Plasma Rifle and then you just melee them to death.
 * In Halo 2 if you pull the trigger fast enough repeatedly, you may increase the rate of fire. Doing so allows you to fire faster than the weapon's automatic rate of fire. This is obviously most useful in multi-player.
 * In Halo: Combat Evolved, it is a good idea to carry a Human weapon as a secondary. Using the Plasma Rifle to till over heats to drain an opponents shield and then shoot them with your secondary. An M6D Pistol is best used for secondary but an Assault Rifle works well too.



Trivia

 * In Halo 2 and Halo: Combat Evolved, the Plasma Rifle fires two bolts per every battery, though they do the same. It is unknown why this occurs, or what effects it does, but it does not do twice as much damage.
 * The Plasma Rifle is essentially two plasma projectors, placed atop one another, these projectors fire in a "stagger" taking the slow automatic fire of each individual projector and combining it to make a much more rapid rate of fire for the entire weapon.
 * The Plasma Rifle is a rifle in name only; as such there is an ambiguity in its correct designation as a semi-automatic gun. All conventional munitions fire projectiles from a tube (barrel).
 * The Plasma Rifle is used mostly by Brutes and Elites, but it can also be wielded by other species, like Grunts and Jackals, if given to them.
 * In Halo 2, the Brutes normally wield the Brute Plasma Rifle, except in The Great Journey when a vehicle is driven by a Brute. Also in the level Sacred Icon (level) you can see that a few dead Brute have a Plasma Rifle beside them showing their use of the normal standard Plasma Rifle instead of the more powerful Brute version.
 * In Halo: Combat Evolved, if your character remains idle for a minute, he'll inspect the weapon on both sides, in Halo 2 he'll open the cooling vents, in Halo 3, he'll pull on the top, as if to try to pry it open.
 * People who underestimate the power of the plasma rifle had been killed by this shield-devouring weapon.
 * In the Halo Wars trailer it makes a more realistic crackling sound when fired.
 * Major Elites are seen dual-wielding Plasma Rifles a lot more than Minor Elites.
 * Like most Covenant weapons the Plasma Rifle has no sights. It appears to rely entirely on the user's HUD reticule for aim assistance.
 * In Halo 3 multi-player, with no damage modifiers on, this weapon has the 3rd lowest shot damage difference between single and dual wield (the Plasma Pistol has no difference in shot damage and the Mauler takes only one more shot to kill dual wielded then when single wielded from 2x overshield or more). At normal shield the shot difference is only two shots (eighteen single, twenty dual), at 4x overshield the difference is only three shots (thirty-two single, thirty-five dual).
 * The Plasma Rifle is hardly ever used by Covenant forces in Halo 3, with the exception of Elites.
 * The Plasma Rifle may rely on an air supply for the generation of an ionized plasma, meaning it should only be able to fire in an atmosphere, or it operates using a vacuum arc.
 * It is commonly believed that it carries a cell of pre-ionized plasma inside, which is highly impractical. It may carry a fuel gas that is ionized as the weapon is fired, but that plasma is expelled from the weapon.
 * For some players, the Plasma Rifle has become a sort of "paintball gun" on forged maps. Explanation is that the Plasma Rifle is held in similarity to a paintball gun, and the blue bolts that are shot out.
 * There is some controversy over whether the Plasma Rifle is a counterpart to the Assault Rifle, because both have at least 400 shots and are referred to as "rifles," or the SMG, because both can be dual-wielded and are roughly the same size.
 * The Plasma Rifle in Halo 3 multi-player destroys shields rapidly and is only rivaled by the Plasma Pistol's overcharge shot.
 * On occasion in Halo 3 if you hold the Plasma Rifle under a certain amount of lighting, it will produce a somewhat red coloring; similar to that of the older version of the Plasma Rifle.
 * The Arbiter in Halo 3 usually has dual-wielded Plasma Rifles. He can also melee with them and not drop one.
 * In Halo 2 and 3 the shots that are fired alternate between the upper and lower halves.
 * It is also Rtas 'Vadum's favored secondary weapon of choice next to the Energy Sword.
 * On the level Delta Halo, you can see Jackals using Plasma Rifles.
 * In Halo 2 there is a Brute version of the Plasma Rifle, but it is replaced with the Brute Spiker in Halo 3.
 * If you look on the left side of the Plasma Rifle there is a display indicating how hot the weapon is
 * In all of the Halo games, if your Plasma Rifle is running low on energy, (less then 10% battery) when you fire it, then it will occasionally splutter and refuse to fire. This may be due to the fact that the power cell is unable to focus the remaining energy into a ball of crude, legitimate plasma.
 * In Halo 3 it takes about 6 to 8 percent of the battery to take out someone's shields in Multi-player.
 * There have been model plasma rifles made by toy companies for a kind of Halo laser tag.
 * While hit by the bolts in Halo: Combat Evolved, you will move and fire slower.
 * Plasma Rifles are not very effective against the Flood in Halo: Combat Evolved, however, in Halo 3 dual-wielded Plasma Rifles are the best weapon against multiple Flood organisms.
 * If you listen closely, the Plasma Rifle has a slightly lower tone than the Brute Plasma Rifle. This may be due to fact that there's slower and less heated plasma output running through the regular Plasma Rifle that creates the "Electric whistling" sound. The hotter and faster the plasma is, the more high pitched it becomes.
 * The Plasma Rifle in Halo 3 does not appear on any Big Team Multi-player map like Valhalla and Standoff, not even in Forge.
 * The Plasma Rifle becomes extremely fast and accurate when tapping RT repeatedly at rapid speeds, enabling you to fire like the Elites on Legendary.
 * It is possible to solely carry the Plasma Rifle in Halo 3, even without randomly spawning with it. Possess two Plasma Rifles without dual-wielding (use triple-wield technique, making sure that you have one on your right hand and another on your holster), then empty the entire battery of one Plasma Rifle, then simply waste the other one as much or as little as you like (but you MUST fire at least ONE shot). Find another Plasma Rifle and swap it with whatever PR still contains energy (DO NOT swap it with the empty one). If done correctly, you will have just a Plasma Rifle as your sole armament. Looks great on an Elite.
 * In Red vs. Blue Season 1, a Plasma Rifle is used for Lopezs' voice chip.
 * Doc/O'Mally's robot army in RvB use Plasma Rifles.
 * It should be noted that that a plasma rifle shoots plasma, not a laser. Plasma is more of a fire while a laser is a light.
 * In Halo Combat Evolved it acted like the counterpart to the Assault Rifle while in Halo 2 and 3 it acted like the counterpart to the SMG and the Spiker.
 * With a modded controller you can fire the plasma rifle considerably faster.

UNSC Remarks
“The Type-25 DER has no recoil to speak of; it tears the crap out of shields and you can shoot the thing all day long—it's on the heavy side though.”

“I realize that it uses a battery instead of a magazine, but nobody has figured out how to swap it or recharge it yet? Don’t we have scientists working for us or something?”

“It’s got no sight-line, it’s awkward to hold, and if it overheats it’ll cook the hair right off of your wrists.”

“You know, it looks delicate and so you feel like you need to hold it kind of gingerly—but then you see an Elite crack a Bravo Kilo's head with one—the things are built tough.”

“Yeah, and I’ve seen some Elites swinging two of them around like it was nothing—scary shit.”

"These things are huge—but I guess the Elites are, too—so it sorta makes sense."

Character Compatibility

 * Elites
 * Spartans
 * Cortana (has animation but not used)
 * Brutes
 * Grunts
 * Jackals
 * Marines
 * Drones (have animation but not used)
 * Flood Combat Form (Human)
 * Flood Combat Form (Elite)
 * Flood Combat Form (Brute)

Laser Tag
In July 2007, it was announced that there is going to be a Halo laser tag game released, with a Plasma Rifle designed to actual proportions to look like it does in Halo 3.