Halo 3 Guide

[toc]

Weapons

The thing that makes the game worth playing, the weapons! I tested out all the weapons myself to give you the following stats. I split the sections up into weapons of each group, equipment, and pick ups.

UNSC Weapons

UNSC Weapons are all futuristic yet basic marine type weaponry. Usually nothing special to the guns and bullets.

Assault Rifle

halo_3_assault_rifle

One of the most common weapons in Halo. A fully automatic rifle best for medium range. It has a 32 round magazine and can hold a max of 352 rounds. It has a reload speed of 1.95 seconds. It takes 16 rounds to kill the average person with average health and shield.

Battle Rifle

halo_3_battle_rifle

Maybe the most used weapon in Halo 3 Multiplayer. A 3 Burst fire rifle with a 2x Scope on top. Best at medium to long range. It has a 36 round Magazine and can hold a max of 108 rounds. The BR has a reload speed of 1.95 seconds. The BR is one of few guns that give more damage to headshots. It takes roughly 7 bursts, 21 rounds, to kill someone with full health and shield; if doing headshots then it takes 4 bursts, 12 rounds.

SMG

halo_3_smg

A fully automatic and high rate of fire Sub Machine Gun. Best at close range. The SMG is one of few guns that can be dual wielded. It has a 60 round magazine and can hold a max of 180 rounds. The SMG has a reload speed of 1.1 seconds. It takes 24 rounds to kill someone with full health and shield.

Shotgun

halo_3_shotgun

A pump action shotgun. Just like all pump action shotguns it has low rate of fire and is best at close range. It can reach out to around 20 Meters but does less damage of course. The Shotgun can hold 6 rounds at a time with a max ammo capacity of 30 rounds. It can kill in one shot up close, all the way to 11 shots at it’s furthest range. In order to reload you must put one shell in at a time which takes almost a second for each round.

Sniper Rifle

halo_3_sniper_rifle

A semi automatic Sniper Rifle with a 5x and 10x scope. The rifle has a 4 round magazine and can hold up to 20 rounds. It has a reload speed of 1.68 seconds. The Sniper Rifle is one of few guns that does more damage with headshots. It takes two shots to kill unless it’s a headshot, then it will only take one.

Magnum

halo_3_magnum

A semi automatic pistol usually used as a secondary weapon in matchmaking. Best for close range. The Magnum is one of few guns that can be dual wielded AND has the ability to do more damage with head shots. The Magnum has an 8 round Magazine and a max capacity of 40 rounds. It’s reload speed is 1.5 seconds. It takes 8 rounds to kill someone and 5 rounds if all are headshots.

Rocket Launcher

halo_3_rocket_launcher

The Rocket Launcher is a dual barrel bazooka with a 2x scope. Because it’s dual barrel of course it can hold two rockets at a time. The max ammo capacity is 6 rounds. It has a reload speed of 3.38 seconds. Since it shoots rockets I do not know the exact damage. It can kill with one shot direct on and within a certain range with it’s explosive power.

Spartan Laser

halo_3_spartan_laser

The Spartan Laser is one of the most advanced weapons in the UNSC Weapons. It uses battery power instead of bullets and fires a super heated laser with a scope attached to it. It kills with one shot but must charge up around 4-5 seconds in order to blast off a laser. While charging a thin red line will show where you’re pointing the laser at. It has 100 battery power but takes 20 battery power per blast. Used mostly to take out vehicles.

Flamethrower

halo_3_flamethrower

-Picture credit to halo wikia.

A heavy duty weapon that takes you out of first person mode to third person mode when carrying it. Best for close range since it doesn’t shoot too far. It has a fuel level instead of bullets or battery power and can overheat. It takes 2 seconds over full blasted fire to overheat and takes off around 9 (out of 100) fuel. So it fires around 4.5 fuel per second. When you catch others on fire they stay on fire for a short time and can die even if they already killed you but set you on fire. It takes around 3 fuel to kill someone.

Machine Gun Turret

halo_3_machine_gun_turret

A heavy duty weapon that is usually mounted on platforms. When mounted it has infinite bullets but it can be dismounted and hold 200 bullets. When dismounted it takes you out of first person mode to third person mode. It takes around 8 rounds to kill someone with full shield and health.

Missile Pod

halo_3_missile_pod

A heavy duty weapon that takes you out of first person mode to third person mode when holding it. It fires rockets that can lock on to vehicles. The Missile Pod holds 8 round max and fires like a semi automatic gun. It can kill people with one rocket but is usually used for vehicles.

Frag Grenades

halo_3_frag_grenade

Standard grenades. You can hold two at a time. Throw them and it takes .5 seconds from when it touches to the ground to explode. If other grenades are near it then they will blow up as well.

Covenant Weapons

Covenant Weapons are high tech alien weaponry that usually have battery power and shoot some sort of plasma. Because they’re battery powered they cannot pick up more ammo, only pick up brand new weapons with more battery life. Used by the Covenant, Elites, Grunts, and Jackals.
Plasma Rifle

halo_3_plasma_rifle

A fully automatic plasma weapon. Has 100 Battery and overheats after 3.7 seconds of firing and takes 6 power of the battery. Plasma Rifles are one of few guns that can be dual wielded. 18 rounds/4 power is how much it takes to kill your average enemy.

Plasma Pistol

halo_3_plasma_pistol

A semi automatic plasma pistol that can be charged to fire a blast of plasma. Plasma Pistols are one of few guns that can be dual wielded. Has 100 battery life. It takes 26 shots/10 power to kill an average enemy. A full charged blast takes 8 power and only takes down the shield.Needler

halo_3_needler

A fully automatic alien weapon. This is one of few alien weapons that does not use battery power. The needler holds 19 rounds at a time and has a max ammo capacity of 76. It has a reload time of 1.17 seconds. It takes around 8 rounds to kill someone, but if you fire 7 rounds into an enemy then they explode killing them.

Carbine

halo_3_carbine

A semi automatic alien rifle. This is one of few alien weapons that does not use battery power. It has a 3x scope and does more damage to headshots. Each magazine holds 18 rounds and has a max capacity of 72 rounds with a reload time of 2.1 seconds. The Carbine takes 12 rounds to kill the average enemy and 8 rounds if all are headshots.

Beam Rifle

halo_3_beam_rifle

A semi automatic alien sniper rifle with a 5x and 10x scope. It uses battery power and can overheat when shooting. If you fire two quick shots it will overheat, but if you fire a little slower then you can get more shots off. Each shot takes 10 power from the battery. Like the regular sniper rifle it takes two shots to kill, but one shot if it’s a headshot.

Fuel Rod Gun

halo_3_fuel_rod_gun

A semi automatic bazooka like weapon. The fuel rod gun can hold up to 5 rounds per mag with a max capacity of 25. It has a reload time of 2.65 seconds. The Fuel Rod Gun is weaker than the Rocket Launcher because even with a direct hit it will still take two shots to kill someone.

Energy Sword

halo_3_energy_sword

A melee weapon that can kill in one hit. If you’re close enough for the cross hair reticule to turn red then you can usually lunge at the enemy with your sword if you hit the fire button (RT). However, you can also use the melee button (B) to kill someone which makes the sword swing faster. If you come up against another sword user and you both hit RT then you’ll clash your swords and take off each other’s shields. Hit B to swing faster and kill him before he kills you. The Energy Sword has 100 power and each kill takes off 10 power.

Plasma Cannon

halo_3_brute_chieftain_turret

The Plasma Cannon is a heavy duty weapon you may find mounted to surfaces. If you carry one you switch from first person to third person mode. It has 100 power and takes off almost 1 power per shot. Takes 9-10 shots to kill an average person.

Plasma Grenades

halo_3_plasma_grenade

Plasma grenades are the type of grenades the Covenant usually use. These grenades don’t fly as fast as frag grenades but can stick to enemies and pulse with a blue light. They can blow up just like frag grenades if they’re left on the ground. You can only carry two at a time. Detonates after about 1 second from hitting the ground or target enemy.

Brute Weapons

Brute Weapons are of course commonly used by Brutes. They seem a bit more primitive but are very effective.

Spiker

halo_3_spiker

A fully automatic gun. The spiker is one of few guns that can be duel wielded. It’s best used at medium to close range. It has a magazine size of 40 rounds and can hold a max of 120 rounds with a reload time of 1.55 seconds. It takes 14 shots to kill an average enemy.

Brute Shot

halo_3_brute_shot

The Brute shot is a semi automatic weapon that is close to a grenade launcher. It shoots explosive projectiles. The Brute Shot holds 6 rounds per magazine and can hold a max of 12 rounds with a 2.75 second reload time. The Brute Shot takes 4 shots to kill your average enemy.Mauler

halo_3_mauler

The mauler is like a weaker version of the shotgun. It is semi automatic and one of few guns that can be duel wielded. It has about twice the range of a shotgun but half the power. It takes two shots to kill someone up close and a max of around 30 shots to kill someone at it’s furthest range. The Mauler holds 5 rounds per magazine and has a max ammo capacity of 15 rounds with a 1.7 second reload time.

Gravity Hammer

halo_3_gravity_hammer

The Gravity Hammer is another melee type weapon similar to the Energy Sword. It cannot lunge as far as the Energy Sword but it does have a blast radius that can damage you almost like an explosive if it hits near you. The Gravity Hammer has 100 battery power and takes around 9 power per shot. If hit directly on it is a one shot kill.

Spike Grenade

halo_3_spike_grenades

A Brute form of a grenade. These grenades don’t do much damage next to you but they can stick to you and kill you. They are great when used on vehicles as they usually destroy a vehicle with one spike grenade. You can only hold two at a time. Does not fly too far and takes about .75 seconds to detonate after touching the ground.

Firebomb

halo_3_firebombs

An incendiary grenade. These are the rarest of all grenades. When thrown they don’t explode but instead burn for around 4 seconds. If thrown on an enemy they will die within a second. You can only hold two at a time.

Other Weapons

Sentinel Beam

halo_3_sentinel_beam

A forerunner weapon usually found on Sentinels in the campaign. It fires a weak laser that has 100 battery power. It takes 2.8 seconds to overheat which takes off 23 power. The Sentinel Beam needs about 9 power to kill an average enemy.

Melee (Ball/Bomb/Flag)

Melee attacks are powered up quite a bit in Halo 3. You can melee with your hand at any time. The melee attack can kill with two hits unless you hit an enemy from behind, then it will kill with one hit. If you have an oddball, bomb, or flag, then the melee will kill an average enemy with one shot from any direction.

Equipment

Equipment is a new thing added to the Halo franchise. You can only hold one piece of equipment at a time but you can switch the equipment you have for another just like with guns. Each piece of equipment does something different. I calculated how long they last from the time you throw them. Not all activate the moment you throw them. Most do.

Bubble Shield

The bubble shield is a giant bubble that stops all weapons, however it does not stop vehicles or other enemies from entering. Enemies can go inside and destroy the bubble shield. Lasts 20.7 seconds.

Deployable Cover

Deployable cover is a small piece of equipment that deploys a small shield. These shields can take only so much damage before disappearing. After a few seconds of charging it will come back and shield people again.

Flare

A flare that blinds enemies and yourself the close you are to it. Lasts for 5.5 seconds.

Grav-Lift

A device when thrown on the floor will lift it many feet up into the air. Lasts 30.8 seconds.Power Drain
A device that takes away your shield within .5 seconds if you are close enough to it. If you throw it next to a vehicle it will temporarily disable the vehicle. Lasts 7 seconds.

Radar Jammer

A device that fills your radar with tons of moving red dots the closer you are to it. It lasts 20 seconds.

Regenerator

A device that regenerates your shield and health within a second. It does the same to anyone within the green field. Lasts 15.6 seconds.

Trip Mine

A pressure explosive. Throw it on the ground and if a vehicle runs over it, it will explode destroying the vehicle.

Pick Ups

In multiplayer you may see giant orbs here and there. Just touch them and you’ll get special abilities:

Active Camo

Active Camouflage is a pick up that lasts 30 seconds. When you have it you become invisible until you fire your weapon or melee.

Overshield

The overshield is a pick up that lasts 30 seconds. It gives you double shields. If you pick it up when you have no shield it quickly regenerates your first shield and adds another layer. If people are shooting you while the shields are building up then those bullets will do no damage for a short amount of time until the time when the shield should have filled up.

Custom

In Forge mode you can create your own custom pick up that can do whatever you want it to do.