The September/October Halo Infinite Technical Preview featured all the same weapons as the July Tech Preview, but with the addition of the Shock Rifle, M247 HMG, and Plasma Fusion Coil. Thanks to the Weapon Ranges and Training Mode, it was also easier to try out all the different weapons than ever before.
Note: The written content in this article is mostly identical to the content from the July Tech Preview Weapons article due to the fact that the video content has been greatly improved. There will be a list of updates in the Summary section.
Every weapon in the Halo Infinite Technical Preview could do increased damage on precision hits, with the exception of the Fists and Gravity Hammer. This only applied once the target's shield had been depleted, but it was very significant for most weapons, especially the Plasma Pistol. Precision hits with weapons are indicated by double hitmarkers, as opposed to the typical single hitmarkers.
Descope will knock a player out of their zoom whenever they are shot. This applied to all scoped weapons, but it did not apply to the default 1.40x zoom available to most unscoped weapons.
Finally, weapons with a battery or charge level (in percent) automatically refilled when walking over the weapon on the ground or on a weapon rack. For example, holding a Plasma Pistol with 50% battery and walking over another Plasma Pistol with 75% battery will automatically recharge the held Plasma Pistol to 100%, leaving the one on the ground at 25%. The player did not need to manually pick up the Plasma Pistol with the higher battery level as they would have in previous games.
This article contains screenshots of the weapon FPS models and pickup prompts, as well as short videos showing the animations while using each weapon. I have also included a list of relevant stats for each weapon. The following sections are included in this article:
Summary
BR75
When viewing the weapon pickup prompt for a few seconds, additional details appear underneath the weapon name. These details are in the following format: "[Weapon Type] | [Firing Mode(s)] | [Range(s)]".
The BR75 is a Kinetic Burst Tactical Rifle, effective at Mid range. The weapon fires in a three-round burst and is most well known for being able to kill enemy Spartans in four bursts, provided all rounds from each burst land on the Spartan and the final round in the fourth burst is a headshot. No matter what, if one round from the BR75 hits the head of an unshielded target, it will instantly kill them.
The BR75 has the following magazine size and reserve ammo capacity:
Magazine Capacity: 36
Inventory Ammo Capacity: 216
The inventory ammo capacity, in particular, is quite exciting. Historically, this value has been 108, meaning players could only store three additional Battle Rifle magazines in their inventory. The increase to 216 allows players to hold up to six additional BR75 magazines in reserves, making it much harder to run out of ammo for the weapon in Campaign.
The first-person view of the BR75 is shown above. The weapon displays how many rounds are in the magazine on a digital readout. The reticle is very similar to its Halo 2, Halo 3, and Halo 3: ODST (MCC) appearance.
When zoomed in, the BR75 uses Smart-Link to super-impose the scope view on the player's HUD, much as it was in Halo 2, Halo 3, and Halo 3: ODST (MCC).
Nearly every weapon in the Tech Preview has a separate animation for reloading when the magazine has been fully emptied. Additionally, most weapons have two different melee animations, a handful of idle animations (of which only one is particularly interesting), and more. This video shows all of these animations for the BR75.
CQS48 Bulldog
The CQS48 Bulldog is a Kinetic Pump-Action Shotgun, effective at Close range. The weapon fires more quickly than the Tactical Shotgun from previous games, and it has a higher range. However, it does not have as much stopping power, and it cannot kill a Spartan in one-hit. If the player desires, they can fire the CQS48 Bulldog at its fastest firing right by holding down the fire button, but this will invariably result in reduced accuracy compared to pressing the button for each shot.
The CQS48 Bulldog has the following drum size and reserve capacity:
Drum Capacity: 7
Inventory Ammo Capacity: 14
Since the last Tech Preview, the CQS48 Bulldog has been retuned to make it more effective for the average user while reducing its lethality at range.
The first-person view of the CQS48 Bulldog is shown above. The reticle is circular, but with notches in each of the four corners that can expand to show reticle bloom.
The CQS48 Bulldog does not have its own scope, so the default 1.40x zoom is used instead. This increases the size of the reticle since scope-less weapons do not become more accurate when zooming in. The only benefit to zooming in is that you can gain the benefits of bullet magnetism and aim assist at slightly longer ranges.
The CQS48 Bulldog, like the BR75, has separate animations for reloading depending on whether the drum was fully emptied. It also features two melee animations, among others.
Fists
When starting a Weapon Drill, the player initially starts with no weapons equipped. Surprisingly, they can still attack things with the melee button.
There are two melee animations for the Fists. Once a player picks up a weapon, they cannot drop it to return to using their Fists, so this was only available in Weapon Drills during the Tech Preview.
Fusion Coil (Plasma)
During the Tech Preview, the Plasma Fusion Coil was available exclusively in Big Team Battle. It could be picked up and thrown, shot from afar, or even grabbed with the Grappleshot.
Other than the color of the Fusion Coil, the only way to determine the damage type of a Fusion Coil is by Marking it. Pinging a Fusion Coil indicates its damage type in the killfeed. Only the Plasma Fusion Coils were available in the Tech Preview. The Plasma Fusion Coil explodes after taking enough damage, whether that be upon significant impact with another object or from being shot at a distance. The explosion does some damage, but then bits of flaming plasma cover the ground around it, creating a damage-over-time effect that slowly harms all enemy players and vehicles in the pool.
The Fusion Coil pickup prompt is simple and likely identical for all Fusion Coil types. Picking up a Fusion Coil will not replace the player's current weapons, but in order to switch to another weapon, a player must drop the Fusion Coil on the ground.
This video demonstrates picking up and dropping a Fusion Coil, as well as meleeing while holding it and throwing it at the environment. Note that the glowing blue chunks generated after the explosion are what causes the damage-over-time effect. There is also a unique reticle that only appears while holding a Fusion Coil.
Gravity Hammer
The Gravity Hammer is a Power Melee weapon, effective at Close range. Since it is a Melee weapon, it has no firing mode in the extended pickup prompt. The weapon does not need to directly strike an opponent to do damage. In fact, it has a much larger damage and kill radius than Gravity Hammers in previous games, made possible by its much longer swing time before dealing damage.
The Gravity Hammer has the following ammo stats:
Charge per Powered Swing: 10%
Inventory Charge Capacity: 100%
Since the last Tech Preview, the Gravity Hammer has been improved slightly due to a small area-of-effect added around the wielder when the hammer strikes. This AOE allows the Gravity Hammer to kill enemies that get in close more reliably than before.
The first-person view of the Gravity Hammer is shown above. The reticle is similar in appearance to how it was in Halo 3, Halo 3: ODST, Halo: Reach, and Halo 5: Guardians.
Unlike most other weapons in the Tech Preview, zooming in with the Gravity Hammer does nothing, so its lunge range cannot be increased.
The Gravity Hammer animations are shown in the above video. Since the weapon does not have a magazine or overheat mechanic, there are no venting or reload animations.
Unlike most other weapons, there is only one Gravity Hammer melee animation, which is identical to the powered slam animation. This melee animation not only takes longer to perform than other melee animations, it also does not do damage until well into the animation.
Since it does about the same amount of damage as melees from other weapons, there is no reason to melee with the Gravity Hammer. In fact, it is likely a bug or placeholder animation until they can add the proper, faster melee animations that are seen on Gravity Hammers in previous games.
Heatwave
The Heatwave is a Hardlight Semi-Auto Shotgun, effective at Mid range. Each shot from this weapon consists of six individual Hardlight projectiles that ricochet off surfaces several times before expiring. The projectiles overpenetrate targets, dealing damage to everything they pass through.
The weapon also features an alternate firing mode, switching the firing pattern from a horizontal line to two triangular groups of three stacked vertically. Unlike the last Tech Preview, the Heatwave now fires at the same rate in both modes.
Reloading the weapon occurs one round at a time, and the reload animation can be interrupted at any time to continue firing with however many rounds are currently loaded.
The Heatwave has the following magazine size and reserve capacity:
Magazine Capacity: 8
Inventory Ammo Capacity: 16
The first-person view of the Heatwave in its default firing mode is shown above. The reticle has six dots, showing where each of the six projectiles will go when fired.
Pressing the Zoom button switches the Heatwave into its alternate fire mode. In this mode, the six dots rearrange to form two vertically stacked triangles. Again, each dot represents where a projectile will go once the weapon is fired. On the weapon itself, the two "wings" on either side of the barrel retract inward in this firing mode.
As mentioned previously, the Heatwave reloads one round at a time in a looping animation. If desired, the reload process can be interrupted at any time to continue firing. Switching the firing mode plays a short animation where the "wings" on the sides of the barrel extend (for default) or retract (for alternate). The Heatwave also features two melee animations like most other weapons.
M247 HMG
Like the Plasma Fusion Coil, the M247 HMG was only featured in Big Team Battle. The M247 HMG is a fully-automatic mounted turret that fires Kinetic rounds.
When mounted, the M247 HMG has infinite ammo but can only look in a 180-degree semicircle. It cannot be moved from its original position while mounted. The reticle for the turret is reminiscent of the Halo: Combat Evolved through Halo: Reach versions. Notably, there is a hard-to-read prompt under the reticle that says to press the Melee input to detach the M247 HMG.
After unmounting the M247 HMG, the reticle increases in size to indicate a reduced accuracy. Additionally, the ammo for the turret becomes finite, starting at 100% when unmounted and draining to 0% as the player fires. The player can move around with an unmounted M247 HMG, albeit more slowly than with other weaponry.
Picking up the unmounted M247 HMG will not cause any of your equipped weapons to drop, but you will not be able to switch weapons without dropping the M247 HMG. Note that the description depicts the M247 HMG as a Kinetic Auto Turret, effective at Mid-range.
Unfortunately, this video does not include the behaviors of the mounted M247 HMG. Rather, it shows the behavior of the unmounted turret, including picking it up, dropping it, and firing it.
M41 SPNKr
The M41 SPNKr is a Power Semi-Auto Launcher. Due to the nature of the weapon, it does not have one particular effective range and can be used at most ranges, depending on the type of target. The weapon fires slow-moving explosive rockets that detonate on impact with anything. These rockets have a considerably high blast radius and can kill nearby enemies without a direct hit, so best practice is to aim for the enemy's feet.
The M41 SPNKr has the following magazine size and reserve ammo capacity:
Magazine Capacity: 2
Inventory Ammo Capacity: 4
The first-person view of the M41 SPNKr is shown above. The reticle appears as it did in every previous FPS Halo game except for Halo 4.
Unlike in previous games, the M41 SPNKr does not have its own scope and instead uses the default 1.40x Zoom available to most non-scoped weapons.
The M41 SPNKr does not appear to have a special reload animation when both rockets have been fired. The animation is identical whether one or both rockets have been fired. It does, however, offer two distinct melee animations.
MA40 AR
The MA40 AR is a Kinetic Auto Assault Rifle, effective at Mid range. This weapon is a classic Halo weapon, featured in every FPS Halo game except Halo 2. In Halo Infinite, this weapon has become a viable option for taking down opponents, particularly when coupled with its ability to do additional precision damage to unshielded enemies.
The MA40 AR has the following magazine size and reserve ammo capacity:
Magazine Capacity: 36
Inventory Ammo Capacity: 216
The 36-round magazine capacity was originally seen in Halo 5: Guardians as a way to make the Assault Rifle slightly more effective, increasing the likelihood of earning a kill before the user had to reload the weapon.
The first-person view of the MA40 AR is shown above. The reticle appears as it did in Halo: Reach, Halo 4, and Halo 5: Guardians. Firing in bursts will result in greater accuracy than firing in fully automatic, but the overall firing rate will be reduced. The number of rounds in the magazine can be seen on the weapon's readout, and the small arrow above this number functions as a compass.
Since the MA40 AR does not have a scope, it uses the default 1.40x zoom available to most unscoped weapons. This only increases the range at which bullet magnetism and aim assist apply.
As with the BR75, the MA40 AR has a special reload animation if the magazine has been fully emptied. Additionally, it has two melee animations.
MLRS-2 Hydra
The MLRS-2 Hydra was not usable in the Tech Preview through any official means, but we were able to determine its damage type through the Weapons Bench menus.
As can be seen in this screenshot, the MLRS-2 Hydra fires Kinetic rounds, although its actual functionality remains to be seen.
MK50 Sidekick
The MK50 Sidekick is a Kinetic Semi-Auto Pistol, effective at Close range. This weapon is not the Magnum, which has been seen in all FPS Halo games since Halo: CE. Rather, it is a new offering that is most similar to the Gunfighter Magnum in Halo 5: Guardians. Like the BR75, landing a headshot on an unshielded enemy will instantly kill them. It takes a minimum of 7 shots to kill a fully shielded enemy Spartan: six to break the shield followed by one headshot.
The MK50 Sidekick has the following magazine size and reserve ammo capacity:
Magazine Capacity: 12
Inventory Ammo Capacity: 72
The first-person view of the MK50 Sidekick is shown above. The iron sights on the weapon, while having no functional use in-game, are lit up in red.
The MK50 Sidekick is yet another unscoped weapon, meaning it uses the default 1.40x Zoom. This only increases the range at which bullet magnetism and aim assist apply.
The MK50 Sidekick also has a special reload animation if the magazine has been fully emptied. It has two melee animations as well.
Needler
The Needler is a Kinetic Auto SMG, effective at Close range. As in all previous FPS Halo games, the Needler fires a stream of homing needles at its target. If enough needles embed themselves in a target, a supercombine explosion will occur. This will immediately kill a full shielded enemy Spartan and damage those around them.
The Needler has the following magazine size and reserve ammo capacity:
Magazine Capacity: 26
Inventory Ammo Capacity: 78
The first-person view of the Needler is shown above. The needles poking out of the top of the weapon will shrink into the weapon as it is fired. Additionally, there is now a dot-based ammo counter on the back of the Needler. Each lit dot represents one round in the magazine.
The Needler is an unscoped weapon, meaning it uses the default 1.40x Zoom. This only increases the range at which needle homing and aim assist apply.
For the first time in a Halo game, the Needler has a special reload animation if the magazine has been fully emptied. It has two melee animations as well.
Plasma Pistol
The Plasma Pistol is a Plasma Semi-Auto Pistol with an alternate Charge firing mode, effective at Close range. The Plasma Pistol is primarily used as a shield-stripping weapon.
The Semi-Auto firing mode fires quick plasma projectiles that do higher damage on shield hits and unshielded precision hits.
The Charge firing mode fires a slower tracking projectile that instantly depletes a Spartan's shields and does more damage in general, although with a much slower firing rate. This is due to the need to charge and vent the weapon before and after firing. Note that, unlike Halo 3 through Halo 5: Guardians, the Plasma Pistol does not EMP vehicles with its Charge mode. This ability is reserved for Shock-type weaponry.
Choosing to vent the weapon before it overheats in Semi-Auto mode will result in a much faster vent time than automatically venting upon overheat. The player can also wait for the heat to slowly dissipate over time.
The Plasma Pistol has the following stats:
Charge to Overheat (Semi-Auto): ~17%
Charge per Shot (Semi-Auto): ~0.89%
Charge per Shot (Charge): ~7%
Charge Depleted per Second (Charge): ~1.5%
Inventory Charge Capacity: 100%
The first-person view of the Plasma Pistol is shown above. As shots are fired or the weapon is charged, the circular indicator on the back will fill up. The reticle itself is similar to the Halo 5: Guardians version, but with the three lines fully inside the outer circle.
The Plasma Pistol is also an unscoped weapon, meaning it uses the default 1.40x Zoom. This only increases the range at which bullet magnetism and aim assist apply.
The Plasma Pistol can be Charged by holding down the fire button. While Charged, the Plasma Pistol slowly drains its battery until it is fired. The reticle also rotates 180° around, and the outer circle becomes thicker. The indicator on the back of the Plasma Pistol fills with a red bar.
The 1.40x zoom is also available while the Plasma Pistol is charged. This increases the range at which the Charge shot can home on an enemy.
The Plasma Pistol has two animations for venting: one that plays when manually vented and one if it is overheated. It has two melee animations as well.
Pulse Carbine
The Pulse Carbine is a Plasma Burst Assault Rifle, effective at Mid range. Rounds fired by the Pulse Carbine are slow, but they home in on targets within range. Unlike the July Tech Preview, the Pulse Carbine can no longer break an opponents shields with a single five-round burst. However, it is a little easier to land shots now. Although it can be fired as fast as possible by holding down the fire button, tapping the fire button for each burst will result in greater accuracy.
Choosing to vent the weapon manually before it overheats will result in a much faster vent time than automatically venting upon overheat. The player can also wait for the heat to slowly dissipate over time.
The Pulse Carbine has the following stats:
Charge to Overheat: 20%
Charge per Shot: 0.8%
Inventory Charge Capacity: 100%
The first-person view of the Pulse Carbine is shown above. As shots are fired in quick succession, the bar in the upper back will fill up.
The Pulse Carbine is yet another unscoped weapon, meaning it uses the default 1.40x Zoom. This only increases the range at which projectile tracking and aim assist apply.
The Pulse Carbine, like the Plasma Pistol, has two animations for venting: one that plays when manually vented and one if it is overheated. It has three melee animations, including one that only plays when the weapon is venting.
Ravager
The Ravager is a Plasma Burst Launcher with an alternate Charge firing mode, effective at Close range. The Ravager is a Brute weapon that can be used to quickly take out individual targets or act as an area denial weapon. Like most Brute weapons, melee attacks with this weapon do slightly more damage due to the attached bayonet.
The Burst firing mode fires a three-round burst of relatively quick plasma explosives. Although the blast radius is low, it can quickly kill a Spartan if the projectiles hit them directly. The projectiles experience drop at longer distances, so you may need to aim high to hit your target.
The Charge firing mode fires a single explosive round that does a small amount of damage on impact but causes a large area around it to burn with plasma for several seconds, discouraging enemies from entering the area. As with the Burst firing mode, the Charge projectile drops over distance, so aiming high may be necessary. Firing the Charge projectile instantly overheats the weapon, just like the Plasma Pistol.
Choosing to vent the weapon before it overheats in Burst mode will result in a much faster vent time than automatically venting upon overheat. Unlike the Plasma Pistol and Pulse Carbine, heat will dissipate extremely slowly over time, meaning it must be vented manually or automatically upon overheat.
The Ravager has the following stats:
Charge to Overheat (Burst): ~33.3%
Charge per Shot (Burst): ~2.22%
Charge per Shot (Charge): ~10%
Charge Depleted per Second (Charge): ~2.7%
Inventory Charge Capacity: 100%
The first-person view of the Ravager is shown above. As shots are fired and the weapon heats up, the red vents will begin to emit plasma until the weapon is manually vented or overheated and automatically vented.
As with most weapons in the Tech Preview, the Ravager is an unscoped weapon, meaning it uses the default 1.40x Zoom. This only increases the range at which bullet magnetism and aim assist apply.
The Ravager can be Charged by holding down the fire button. While Charged, the Ravager slowly drains its battery until it is fired. The bars on either side of the reticle grow thick and turn red once the weapon is Charged, and the vents on the side withdraw slightly into the weapon.
The 1.40x zoom is also available while the Ravager is charged. This increases the range at which bullet magnetism and aim assist apply.
The Ravager has only one animation for venting, but it plays for much longer if it is overheated. It has three melee animations as well, which all make use of the bayonet on the front of the weapon.
S7 Sniper
The S7 Sniper is a Power Semi-Auto Sniper Rifle, effective at Long range. The S7 Sniper can penetrate through shields to do additional damage to the unshielded combatant, allowing it to kill a shielded opponent with a single precision shot. Headshots with this weapon kill unshielded enemies in a single hit, regardless of their health.
As a Sniper Rifle, the S7 Sniper has two zoom levels and very little aim assist. If you want to hit your targets, you need to be very accurate. Since the July Tech Preview, the aim assist cone on the S7 Sniper has been increased, making it a little easier to aim accurately.
The S7 Sniper has the following magazine size and reserve ammo capacity:
Magazine Capacity: 4
Inventory Ammo Capacity: 16
The first-person view of the S7 Sniper is shown above. The scope has an indicator near the bottom showing how many rounds are left in the magazine. Each bullet shape represents one round. As in previous Halo games, the S7 Sniper is just as accurate when hip fired as when zoomed, but it has almost no aim assist or bullet magnetism in this mode.
The lower zoom level for the S7 Sniper is a 5x zoom. The ammo indicator is visible here near the bottom of the scoped view.
The higher zoom level on the S7 Sniper is 10x, making this the longest ranged weapon in the Tech Preview. When using Hold to Zoom, pressing the Zoom Toggle button will switch between the two zoom levels. On Default controls, this is clicking "LS". The ammo indicator is also visible here near the bottom of the scoped view.
The S7 Sniper has a much longer special reload animation when the magazine is emptied. In many cases, it is best to manually reload after firing 1-3 shots. It has two melee animations as well.
Shock Rifle
The Shock Rifle is a Shock Semi-Auto Sniper Rifle, effective at Long range. Despite being described as a Semi-Auto weapon, the Shock Rifle fires a five-tick sustained burst of shock damage. If all five ticks from a Shock Rifle strike a fully-shielded opponent, with the last tick being a headshot, then the opponent will die in a single burst. Headshots with this weapon kill unshielded enemies in a single hit, regardless of their health.
Hitting an enemy or sandbox item with Shock damage from any source will cause it to chain to another nearby enemy or sandbox item, and damage from the Shock Rifle is no different. In addition, hitting a vehicle with 2-3 full Shock Rifle bursts will EMP it.
The Shock Rifle has the following magazine size and reserve ammo capacity:
Magazine Capacity: 20
Inventory Ammo Capacity: 80
The first-person view of the Shock Rifle is shown above. Interestingly, the weapon is held at an angle, rather than fully flat.
The Shock Rifle zoom is fairly significant, but it does not explicitly state how far it zooms. Unlike other Sniper Rifles, the Shock Rifle only has one level of zoom.
The Shock Rifle's utility as a Shock-type weapon gives it a unique role in the sandbox. It has two melee animations as well as an assortment of other animations.
Skewer
The Skewer is a Power Breech-Load Sniper Rifle, effective at Long range. The Skewer, like the S7 Sniper, can penetrate through shields to do additional damage to the unshielded combatant, allowing it to kill a shielded opponent with a single shot anywhere on the body. Headshots with this weapon kill unshielded enemies in a single hit, regardless of their health. Even though the weapon can kill a Spartan in one hit no matter where it strikes, it must be reloaded after every shot, making accuracy very important.
As a Sniper Rifle, the Skewer has two zoom levels and very little aim assist. If you want to hit your targets, you need to be very accurate. Unlike the S7 Sniper, the Skewer is not hitscan, so you need to accommodate for projectile speed and drop when aiming.
Also, like the Ravager, the Skewer does slightly more melee damage due to the attached bayonet.
The Skewer has the following magazine size and reserve ammo capacity:
Magazine Capacity: 1
Inventory Ammo Capacity: 7
The first-person view of the Skewer is shown above. The scope has an indicator near the left showing whether the Skewer has a spike loaded (the small red spike icon). The Skewer, like the S7 Sniper, is just as accurate when hip fired, but it has very little aim assist and bullet magnetism.
The lower zoom level for the Skewer is shown here. While high, this zoom appears to be lower than the zoom for the S7 Sniper. Note that the spike indicator is more easily visible to the left.
The higher zoom level on the Skewer is shown here, although it is lower than the high zoom level on the S7 Sniper. When using Hold to Zoom, pressing the Zoom Toggle button will switch between the two zoom levels. On Default controls, this is clicking "LS". The spike indicator is still visible on the left.
The Skewer only has one reload animation due to it having a Breech-Load firing mode. It has two melee animations as well, both involving the bayonet on the front to show that they do slightly more damage than a normal melee.
VK78 Commando
The VK78 Commando is a Kinetic Auto Tactical Rifle, effective at Mid range. The weapon has a very fast kill time, but due to its high recoil and hard-to-control accuracy, it is difficult to use this weapon properly. The best results come from firing in bursts, aiming a little low so that the reticle walks up to the opponents head in time to land a headshot as their shields break.
The VK78 Commando requires a minimum of 7 shots to kill an enemy Spartan: 6 shots to break the opponent's shield, followed by one headshot. No matter what, if one round from the VK78 Commando hits the head of an unshielded target, it will instantly kill them.
The VK78 Commando has the following magazine size and reserve ammo capacity:
Magazine Capacity: 20
Inventory Ammo Capacity: 120
The first-person view of the VK78 Commando is shown above. The weapon displays how many rounds are in the magazine on a digital readout.
The VK78 Commando has a 2.0x zoom scope, with a digital ammo counter in the top right. This is a change from the July Tech Preview, when it had a 3.0x zoom scope. Firing fully automatic while zoomed is a bit harder to control, and this scope is best reserved for semi-auto or burst firing at longer ranges.
Like most other weapons in the Tech Preview, the VK78 Commando has a special reload animation that is used when the magazine is fully emptied. The weapon also has two melee animations.
Summary
The weapon sandbox offered in the September/October Tech Preview was very similar to the sandbox offered in the July Tech Preview, but with a few notable additions and updates. This summary contains only information on what's new and what's changed since the July Tech Preview.
The CQS48 Bulldog has been modified to be less lethal at longer ranges but easier to use for average players.
The CQS48 Bulldog has an inventory ammo capacity of 14 rounds.
Fusion Coils can be picked up and thrown or shot from afar.
The Plasma Fusion Coil was the only one featured in the September/October Tech Preview.
Upon detonation, the Plasma Fusion Coil releases multiple glowing Plasma blobs that stick to the ground and cause the area around them to burn.
Players can determine the damage type of a Fusion Coil either by noticing its color or by pinging it and watching the killfeed.
While holding a Fusion Coil, players can still melee, throw grenades, and use equipment.
Players can gently drop a Fusion Coil without throwing it to prevent it from exploding on impact with the ground.
The Gravity Hammer now generates a small AoE around the player when a powered strike lands, which can kill enemies just out of sight near the player.
The Heatwave has been modified to use the same firing rate in both firing modes.
The M247 HMG is a Kinetic Auto Turret, effective at Mid range.
When mounted, the M247 HMG can aim in a 180-degree arc, but it cannot be moved. It also features infinite ammo while mounted.
Pressing the melee button while using a mounted M247 HMG will irreversibly unmount it, rendering it mobile with a slower than normal movement speed and freeing its turn arc to be a full 360 degrees, but giving it finite ammo.
The unmounted M247 HMG can be dropped or picked up as long as it has ammo, but it must be dropped in order to switch to a different weapon.
Throwing grenades or using equipment will immediately drop the M247 HMG.
The Pulse Carbine can no longer break a Spartan's shield in one burst, but it is easier to land shots with it.
The S7 Sniper has had its aim-assist cone improved to make it a little easier to aim while zoomed in.
The Shock Rifle is a Shock Semi-Auto Sniper Rifle, effective at Long range.
The Shock Rifle fires a burst of 5 ticks each time the trigger is pulled.
Like other sources of Shock damage, striking a sandbox item or enemy with the Shock Rifle will chain Shock damage between the target and nearby enemies or items.
The Shock Rifle can EMP vehicles with 2-3 full bursts.
It can kill a Spartan in one shot, provided all ticks land on the Spartan and the final tick is a headshot.
It uses one zoom level, but with a decently high magnification.
The Shock Rifle has a magazine capacity of 20 rounds and an inventory ammo capacity of 80 rounds.
The VK78 Commando has had its scope magnification reduced from 3.0x to 2.0x.