The Halo series has had tons of weapons when battling the Covenant forces, the Flood, and recently the Forerunners. Players have seen weapons come and go; some changed dramatically. Today we are looking through each Halo game and picking out the worst guns to use. However, choosing a bad weapon from Halo 5 would inaccurate.
Halo 5's gun design is different when comparing to other games, and every weapon has high damage. Even when disliking some of Halo 5's guns, we can't say they are underpowered, because everything is overpowered. With that said, here are our top picks for the worst weapons In the Halo series.
Updated December 9th, 2021 by Russ Boswell: The release of Halo Infinite has seen a ton of new guns enter the Halo universe. Some of these weapons will stand firm as some of the greatest tools ever used by Spartans but there are a handful of others that leave a lot to be desired. So where do the weapons of Halo: Infinite stand against the others on this ranking? To better showcase some of the worst Halo weapons that have ever been added, the following list has been updated and now includes the worst weapons in Halo: Infinite.
13 Halo 4: Storm Rifle
An upgraded version of the Plasma Repeater, the Storm Rifle, makes up for what its predecessor started, but not by much. The damage has been increased and even has an auto-aim function. While it still doesn't perform much better at range, its close quarters' usage is much better but takes much longer to cool down than other Covenant weapons. Unlike the Plasma Repeater, it is excellent at shredding shields and can even entirely kill one player before overheating. However, it still falls short in Halo 4 but is receives buffs in Halo 5 later on.
12 Halo 3: Flame Thrower
Only appearing twice in the Halo series so far, the flame thrower only half delivers. It does have serious damage but lacks range, making it close quarters only. Unlike the Halo CE Flamethrower that was only on the PC, Halo 3's Flamethrower is a heavy weapon. Much like carrying a turret, you are slower, switching weapons drops the Flamethrower and no ammo pickups. If it wasn't restricting to a heavy weapon, it might be a threat in multiplayer. However, it still is fun to use and has lots of use in the sandbox maps.
11 Halo Infinite: Sentinel Beam
The Sentinel Beam is definitely one of the cooler weapons that Infinite added to the Halo universe but it's hard to deny how useless it feels. Although it spits out a concentrated beam of energy, it takes far too long to kill opponents. It's good at ripping off shields and there is something to be said for how useful it can be against vehicles.
Unfortunately, its lack of range greatly hinders its usefulness and it's easy for opponents to outplay someone using a Sentinel Beam if they see them coming.
10 Halo Reach: Plasma Repeater
Another weapon that would see only one entry and never return is the Plasma Repeater. Being the controversial replacement to the Plasma Rifle. The Storm Rifle did what the Plasma Rifle did but faster, and worse. Having a unique overheat effect, the Plasma Repeater's fire rate slows the more it overheats. Firing faster to then slower with low to medium damage; this rifle shows why it should not make a return. It is also one of the few standard Covenant weapons that does more damage to unshielded targets rather than what Covenant weapons are known to do.
9 Halo Reach: Focus Rifle
Stepping away from more commonly liked Beam Rifle, the Focus Rifle is the Covenant sniper in Halo Reach. Instead of the energy single shot sniper rifle fans remember from previous games, the Focus Rifle is instead a beam. An energy beam that suppresses targets from far away also has the nickname "the laser pointer." Low damage, high range, and a need to continually keep the laser pinned on your target makes the Focus Rifle underwhelming. Taking a surprising amount of time to kill opponents with this weapon makes it have little use in multiplayer. With that amount of time needed, a player can quickly react and avoid damage. Unless a player is out in a very open area with no cover, you will obtain few kills with this gun.
8 Halo 4: Bolt Shot
New enemies bring new weapons and the Forerunners delivered. While the new line of guns is unique, Forerunner weapons are a mixed bag. The Bolt Shot is one that comes to mind for how diverse it can be. Behaving similarly to a Magnum, the sidearm holds ten rounds and has a burst effect. Forerunner weapons also have natural damage numbers. Unlike Covenant weapons are better against shields and UNSC against base HP. Unloading half of your clip into a small shotgun-like blast seems good on paper. In practice, this gun saw little use, and players didn't see much use for this gun in multiplayer.
7 Halo Infinite: Ravager
When Halo: Infinite first dropped, players were getting the jump on their opponents with the Ravager and punishing them by offering up both area denial and a quick time-to-kill. The Ravager is capable of shooting a charged projectile that explodes into a Napalm-esque ground-covering AOE that damages any players caught in it. Its primary fire is a barrage of smaller exploding projectiles that are quick and accurate in the right hands.
Unfortunately, this combination seemed a bit too strong at the start and the gun was promptly nerfed. It's now a shadow of its former self, takes way too long to down an enemy, and is just woefully underpowered compared to its counterparts.
6 Halo 3: Magnum
The Magnum has never been the same since Halo CE, being the most overpowered sidearm in the series. Many argue between Halo 2 and Halo 3 having the worst Magnum, but we are giving it to Halo 3. With a slow fire rate, low damage to health and shields, even when duel wielding.
While it maintains the ability to headshot, don't expect to land lots of kills with this weapon. The Magnum also does terrible damage from any range aside from up close. Using half of the magazine, then meleeing kills much faster if in close quarters.
5 Halo 2: Shotgun
Another downgrade from a previous game is the Halo 2 Shotgun. Packing with half the ammo, low damage unless, of course, in close quarters. Having a high range fall off makes this gun have its moments, but hardly reliable. Halo 3 would later drop the ammo even more but give the gun range. Despite the Shotgun having a somewhat tight spread, it sadly underperforms. Both Halo 2 and 3's Shotguns are similar to how terrible they are. Because of this, the community often still debates on which is worse.
4 Halo 2: Needler
The pink mist is deadly and iconic for how different it is to the rest of Halos guns. In every game, the Needler has remained a deadly tool, apart from one. Halo 2 has the most nerfed version of this weapon, downright nearly unusable in multiplayer. The lowered ammo count, and the number of needles it takes to make a super combine takes almost the whole clip. If the gun did retain its power from CE and the ability to dual wield, it could be overpowering. In fear of this, it was nerfed into the ground, for this reason, making it only slightly useful if using two Needlers.