Highlights

• The Needler has improved since previous games and is now a reliable weapon, inflicting about 70 damage per needle.
• The Pulse Carbine is a burst-firing plasma rifle that excels at medium range, with energy projectiles that can track targets and deal up to 1,250 damage.
• The M41 SPNKR Rocket Launcher is the most powerful weapon in Halo Infinite, with massive damage potential and a 30-second respawn timer.

On its 20-year anniversary, the head of Xbox Phil Spencer gifted gamers with a major surprise: the early launch of Halo Infinite multiplayer. While it’s still being labeled as a beta, Halo Infinite multiplayer is officially out in the wild and available to everyone for free. 343 Industries launched Halo Infinite with nine different game modes and ten maps, including the massive Big Team battle setup.

Regardless of which game mode you’re playing or the map you’re traversing, success on the battlefield comes down to what kind of gun you’re shooting with. Before you jump headfirst into live multiplayer action, be sure to check out the Weapon Drills in the Academy to get familiar with the wide range of weaponry in the game. Ultimately, these are the best weapons to have equipped to emerge victorious in Halo Infinite.

Updated February 16, 2024, by Sean Murray: There's no single best weapon in Halo Infinite, but there are quite a few great weapons to choose from. This guide will let you know which weapons to grab on the field, thanks to its improved formatting, and it'll also send you to other helpful Halo Infinite topics once you're done.

16 Needler

It’s not Halo without the Needler. This classic Covenant weapon has remained in the series since the first Halo adventure but has seen drastic performance improvements since then. Before, people would ridicule the Needler for the lack of overall damage it did, preferring to have nearly any other gun instead.

But since Halo 3, the Needler has been modified to improve its overall potency on the battlefield, and it’s now considered a rather reliable weapon. Every needle inflicts about 70 damage, so maintaining good accuracy in aiming down the reticle is a must with the Needler.

15 Pulse Carbine

Used primarily by the Banished, the Pulse Carbine operates as a burst-firing plasma rifle. The gun doesn’t have normal bullet rounds, but instead has an energy percentage that gauges how much remaining power it has.

The Pulse Carbine has a slightly zoomed scope for some long-range action, but it’s best suited for medium range. The burst energy projectiles can track their target and can inflict up to 1,250 damage on impact.

14 VK78 Commando

To use Pokemon terminology, you could say that the VK78 Commando is the evolved form of the BR75 Battle Rifle. The Commando fires a single shot repeatedly but with a low rate of fire. It operates better as a long-range option, especially with its 2x scope.

Because of its heavy recoil, the Commando demands patience and precision accuracy to be successful. The long-range rifle contains 60 total bullets in the magazine and 20 in each separate clip.

13 Hydra

This multi-rocket launcher is the successor of the Halo 5 iteration. The Hydra has 12 shots in its magazine and offers two different types of firing styles. The default style fires the rocket straight forward without any sort of interference from you. The secondary style allows you to lock on to enemies and fire homing rockets to track a specific enemy.

The Hydra's primary style can kill a Spartan in three rocket hits while the alternative locked-on style requires four rocket hits to kill an enemy. It does take a few seconds for the Hydra to lock onto the enemy, so be sure to give it some time before firing. Because it's a rocket launcher, it's easy to lump the Hydra in with the M41 SPNKR, but the former is less powerful and technically not part of the Power Weapon group.

12 Shock Rifle

The Shock Rifle can be very dangerous in the right (or wrong) hands. With 12 shots in each clip, the Shock Rifle fires three electrified rounds at a time and will cause a secondary shock effect to the inflicted enemy and other surrounding enemies.

The shock effect will cause extra delayed damage, but will also spill over to other enemies that are nearby. For tight areas or grouped-up enemies, the Shock Rifle can cause major damage and is a surefire way to get multi-kills.

11 Heatwave

The Heatwave operates as a close and mid-range option. It shoots shotgun-like projectiles that can ricochet off solid surfaces like the Cindershot. Unlike the Cindershot, though, the Heatwave's shots can bounce multiple times.

There are eight shots in each clip for the Heatwave, but it shoots six projectiles, so the ammo will run out quickly. It can shoot projectiles in a horizontal or vertical line, allowing you to be creative in firing. The other major difference between the Cindershot and Heatwave is the Cindershot is classified as a Power Weapon, so you won't be able to find out lying around the map.

10 MA40 Assault Rifle

If there were a gun in Halo that could be considered 'old reliable', it would be the MA40 Assault Rifle. This handy weapon has been featured in the storied series since Halo: Combat Evolved, remaining a staple in the series. There have been slight adjustments to the assault rifle throughout the years, but the general premise of the weapon has remained unchanged.

The MA40 has 36 rounds in the magazine clip, but typically it takes a full clip to remove an enemy's shield. Because of the erratic gun spray, many players prefer the precision of the Battle Rifle compared to the MA40. Halo Infinite introduced variants of various weapons, including the MA40 Assault Rifle. Known as the Longshot, this variant dishes out more damage than the regular version, though it comes at the cost of a reduced magazine clip.

9 Skewer

With the Banished being introduced in Halo Infinite, new guns are inevitable. The Skewer is a high-powered spike launcher that will instantly kill anyone who finds themselves on the receiving end.

Unlike the M41 SPNKR rocket launcher, the Skewer only has one spike loaded at all times. You need to make that one shot count because you might not get another chance due to the somewhat long reload time. The Skewer has a double-zoom scope for long-range use, too.

8 Mangler

Designed by the Banished, the Ukala Workshop Spike Revolver, better known as the Mangler, operates as an up-close shotgun pistol. The closest resemblance to the Mangler is a heavy handgun revolver, as it packs a heavy punch in its eight-round magazine clip. Making its debut appearance in Halo Infinite, the Mangler has quickly become a fan favorite in multiplayer, as it drops a Spartan shield in just two hits.

Many players have invoked a strategy of firing one shot and following it up quickly with a melee hit, usually killing an enemy with the two-hit combo. If an enemy has already lost their shields, one headshot from the Mangler will usually finish off the job from a long distance.

7 CQS48 Bulldog

When you want to get up close and personal, there isn’t a gun better than the CQS48 Bulldog. This shotgun deals devastating damage up close, inflicting around 1,000 damage per shot.

The use of shotguns has always been a bit overpowered in Halo multiplayer, and the trend certainly continues in Halo Infinite with the Bulldog. You may not record instant kills with it, even with headshots, but combining the shotgun with a melee hit is a guaranteed takedown.

6 Cindershot

Although the Forerunners have seemingly become extinct, their technology continues to be used in the ongoing war between humans and alien races. The Cindershot is a Forerunner grenade launcher that can eliminate enemies in a matter of seconds. The Cindershot holds a maximum of six hard-light grenades that can ricochet off surfaces before exploding.

Enemy Spartans can be killed with just two direct hits with the Cindershot, and the explosions of the grenades will pull targets together. Similar to other weapons in the game, the Cindershot has a variant version called the Backdraft Cindershot. This upgrades the overall damage of its grenades considerably, allowing you to decimate anyone in your path.

5 BR75 Battle Rifle

First introduced in Halo 2, the Battle Rifle quickly became a favorite among the Halo community for its precision accuracy and high damage output compared to the MA40 Assault Rifle. Unlike the MA40, the BR75 is a burst rifle that favors precision aiming, especially with headshots.

While the MA40 has a slightly zoomed-in 'scope', the BR75 has a true scope to be effective at long-range. If all three shots connect with the target, the Battle Rifle inflicts around 390 damage. Depending on your style of play, the Battle Rifle is typically selected as a preferred starting weapon over the MA40 Assault Rifle.

4 Gravity Hammer

The Gravity Hammer is a classic weapon that has been featured in several Halo games. Typically a weapon favored by the Brutes, the Gravity Hammer is extremely effective at close range and can hit multiple enemies in front of you. It can also be useful against vehicles because the impact of the hammer can inflict high damage.

The impact of the Gravity Hammer can launch enemies into the air and disorient them. Similar to the Energy Sword, the Gravity Hammer has an energy percentage that will expire after a certain number of hits. The downside of the Gravity Hammer is it might not kill an enemy instantly when struck, unlike the Energy Sword.

3 Energy Sword

One of the most iconic weapons in video game history is found in the Halo universe. The Energy Sword that was dramatically introduced in Halo 2 as one of the most powerful weapons that the Covenant has at their disposal is back.

The sword is an instant kill, with a lunging motion to get close to enemies. There is an energy percentage associated with the sword that acts as an indicator of how much longer you can use the weapon. While some might prefer the Gravity Hammer, the Energy Sword takes the cake as the superior melee weapon, because the hammer might not kill an enemy when struck. Instead, the hammer might send them flying with the impact, while the sword will finish off your foe quickly.

2 S7 Sniper

Halo Infinite offers a few long-range weapon options, but none of them come close to the S7 Sniper. This classic weapon has remained a staple in the Halo series since the very beginning, and for good reason.

Each shot inflicts about 1,000 damage, regardless of where it hits — unless it’s a headshot. The S7 Sniper will drop enemy Spartans with one shot to the head, or two shots to the body. The gun only has four shots in each clip, so aim for the head.

1 M41 SPNKR

Among the many powerful weapons featured in Halo Infinite, there’s one that stands above the rest: the rocket launcher. The M41 SPNKR Rocket Launcher is back again and brings a high amount of chaos and destruction with it. Realistically, there’s very little skill needed to secure kills with the rocket launcher, making the weapon both incredibly useful and downright annoying.

The splash damage can cover a large area, which can be both a good and bad thing. Enemies can be hit, even if the rocket doesn’t make a direct impact, but that also means it’s quite easy to kill yourself if you aren’t careful. The Rocket Launcher can be found at various gun spawns with a 30-second timer before they’re available. Having two rockets in a clip combined with the massive amount of damage it can inflict, it’s without question that the M41 SPNKR Rocket Launcher is the best weapon in Halo Infinite.