THE MA5B ASSAULT RIFLE

Multiplayer Help: Because it's one of the weaker guns in the game, you might want to stay away from the assault rifle unless you're sure you need it. (There are those who would melee with an empty pistol rather than pick up the AR). If you must use this weapon, don’t use it at long range. If you HAVE to use it at long range, use burst firing for a slight increase in accuracy. The AR is only decent at a short to mid range unless you're just trying to scare someone. Go for full auto when in close range. It is weak against shields, but good to have in a combo with a plasma weapon (drop an enemy’s shield with plasma fire and flip to AR to finish them off). Melee attacks with the AR are relatively quick, and it can be a good close quarter weapon choice for full auto fire and melee attacks. Also, remember to reload at every quiet opportunity.

Information: The Assault Rifle is a default weapon so get used to using it a lot. At the start of a level especially. Repeat tapping the trigger to shoot bursts of shots or keep hold of rapid fire. The weapon is good against grunts, Infection floods (the little'ens) and elites when their shields are down or low. Also, when shooting, don't swing the crosshair all over the place, like a machine gun. Instead, concentrate on one enemy at a time. Its better to have 5 dead and 2 un-scratched enemies than having 7 injured yet live aliens shooting at you. Think before you shoot (very briefly!). When its time to reload, just chuck a grenade at the toughest enemy before doing so. Then, the elites and grunts etc. will dive out of the way giving you time to reload before they get up. Another alternative is to switch weapons when its out of ammo. But, only if there are are few aliens left! it's terrible to have 2 guns to reload when your in the heat of battle. A good combo is a pistol and this weapon. You can shoot close-range enemies first and then snipe distant aliens afterwards because the assault rifle should not be used for long range.

THE M6D PISTOL

Multiplayer Help: The pistol is arguably the best overall weapon in the game. If you find a pistol lying around, pick it up and use it! Good in almost all situations, long range or short. Once you get those shields off your opponent he's as good as dead. Go for head shots! Practice keeping the pistol sight at opponent head level during game play, and head shots will become more natural. Remember, the pistol has a zoom, but it takes time! Try to keep a longer range on other players when using the pistol. Full auto is not as accurate as single fire, so "vid" the pistol: squeeze the trigger for each shot. You'll be much more accurate that way. The only downside of the pistol is the relatively slow melee attack, but don’t discard an empty pistol too quickly; ammo from dead players is often abundant.

Information: If there was ever a good weapons combo it would be a pistol and an assault rifle. You can do anything and hurt any-one with them. An assault rifle can take down a close enemy and a pistol can take down a long range enemy. A perfect team! But, make sure you have a pistol for these reasons. A pistol has a scope! You can use it to look ahead of yourself and stay one step ahead of your enemy. Another reason is the fact that you can use the scope to sneak up on unsuspecting grunts, jackals, elites.......and hunters! This little weapon has a quick melee and a rather powerful shot. A shot to the head takes a grunt down and hurts an elite too. Jackals don't stand a chance either. The Pistol.... Order yours today!

Multiplayer Help: Like the pistol, the shotgun is a choice weapon. Relax that itchy trigger-finger and hold off until you're close to your target, then go for the head. At close range a shotgun can kill in one blast. Don't waste your shotgun ammo on long-range targets, as the shotgun is so ineffective in these situations that you may as well be shooting them with marshmallows. For this reason, the shotgun is good to have in tandem with a scoped weapon (rocket launcher, pistol, or sniper rifle) so you can deal effectively with long- or short-range targets . The shotgun is also effective against vehicles – when they're in range. Melee attacks are slow with the shotgun, so be sure you have a shell in the chamber before approaching your enemy!

Information: The shotgun is another good weapon. Especially when fighting the flood. This weapon can take out anything in one shot, except the hunter and sentinels which take only a few more shots. Sadly, the reload times suck and can end your life in threatening situations. Always reload immediately after shooting. "Shoot>reload>shoot>reload" Then, you don't have to wait ages during a major fight. Use this gun during the toughest battles and always carry a simple weapon along side it that can hold a lot of ammo, I recommend a pistol or rifle of some sort. Don't drop this weapon during the Flood levels because its pretty much vital. And also, bear in mind that this weapon isn't on every level. You'll have to master other weapons to save yourself!

Multiplayer Help: Aim for the feet. Sometimes jumping will give you a better angle to hit your opponent’s feet and makes it more difficult to hit your feet if your opponent also has a rocket launcher. The more you are in the air the better; descending on someone from above with the rocket launcher is excellent, especially when playing Rockets in Multiplayer.

The rocket launcher has good splash damage; shooting a low ceiling or wall next to an opponent can put him in a world of hurt. One shot will kill when used properly; make it a good one as the reload time is horrendous and the delay between shots feels like an eternity when your first shot misses and your opponents rush you with guns blazing. Rockets have a pretty slow velocity too so remember to lead your targets by quite a bit, especially if they are in a vehicle. Rockets are very good against vehicles as they will not only do a great deal of damage to your enemies but often flip their vehicle as well. A super shield is no match for a well-aimed rocket ; and don’t melee with a rocket launcher, it isn’t worth your time (unless your opponent is facing the wrong way). A rocket launcher and shotgun combination is what Halo is all about.

When playing Oddball games, a rocket launcher is surprisingly useful for quickly removing the ball from its current surroundings. If the enemy is closing and you really don’t think you'll survive, launch the skull and deny them the time.

If you fire a rocket and miss, switch weapons, even if you have one shot still left. That final shot is your emergency shot. Also, if you miss that first time, you're probably not going to get another rocket shot off without killing yourself; by the time you're ready to fire again the target will be too close.