Eos'Mak-pattern plasma pistol

Plasma pistol
Rate of fire: N/A (fully semi-automatic) Damage per hit: Low to high (charged blasts do more damage) Range: Short to medium Accuracy: Low to medium (charged blasts are slightly homing) Magazine size: 100 battery units (cannot be reloaded) Maximum ammo: 500 regular blasts or 10 overcharges

Advantages
Capable of quickly firing low-powered shots, or of firing a single high-powered blast which tracks its target to some degree. This blast is capable of immediately dissipating Spartans', Elites', and Jackals' shields. It holds five rounds to 1% battery, and 10 overcharges to 100% battery. It will also instantly destroy an unshielded Sentinel with one Overcharge shot. An overcharged shot will also usually knock down or kill a flood combat form, buying the player time to switch to a more effective weapon. The Overcharged shot can kill a Grunt Jackels and more on low difficulties. The low-powered shots, however, can be fired faster than those of the Plasma Rifle.

Disadvantages
Overheats when fired rapidly for extended periods, and overcharge uses 11 percent of the charge. Also, the rounds are low-powered and the charged shot is not fully homing and dissipates at long distances. Battery can not be recharged.

Influences
The Plasma pistol was inspired by the human "Zeus-class fusion pistol" from the Marathon series.

Multiplayer Role
The only saving grace with the Plasma pistol is the overcharge shot, which brings down shields instantly. It is useful to bring down the enemy's shields with an overcharge for a quick pistol headshot or melee kill. Also, it will bring down the driver of a vehicle's shields down with a single overcharge shot, leaving them extremely vulnerable. Its low powered shots have the longest range of non sniping/heavy weapons. However, their low speed makes them easy to avoid.

Many players find a combination of the Plasma Pistol and the Battle Rifle in Halo 2 to be an excellent combination. A overcharge shot deteriates the shield, followed by a quick shot of the Battle Rifle is known to cripple foes.

Effective Against
Grunts, Jackals, Elites (Disabling Shields), and Sentinels