Ranking Every Halo Weapon Ever - Tier List (Halo CE & Halo 2)

This is the first video in a series of videos ranking every halo weapon from every halo game. Do you agree with the rankings of all these Halo weapons? Let me know in the comments below!
Halo Infinite Weapons Tier List: • Halo Fans Rank the Hal...
Follow my accounts for more:
►Twitter: / nikos_yt_
►Discord: / discord
►Twitch: / nikostv
0:00 Intro
0:43 Halo: Combat Evolved
6:00 Halo 2
14:31 Outro
#HaloInfinite #Halo #HaloMCC

[@221Prohunter]

The CE plasma pistol absolutely shreds though, it’s much better for outright killing than every other iteration by a long shot.

[@spacecraftcarrier4135]

Yea, but next to that is the Reach Plasma Pistol. My god, the Reach PP tracks slightly more accurately than the CE PP, is able to EMP vehicles unlike CE, and its single shot damage is almost as great as the CE PP.

[@generalmadness6832]

I was about to make this comment but then you did but it’s amazing it has insane ammo and is so easy to find

[@wolflord8117]

CE plasma pistol also has the fastest melee animation too. I'd definitely put it in C tier

[@nathanvaughn9284]

On my first play through on legendary, I only used the plasma pistol for the overcharge, and I struggled a lot. On my second playthrough, I tried out the regular shot and realized that I could plow through all of the grunts and jakals from a distance while slowing working my way up to the elites. Plus, the plasma pistol has the highest ammo capacity by far because they are literally lying all over the floor.

[@longshotcs-6253]

I used it to take out the monitors cause it would track them and take it down in one smack

[@gokufromfortnite5600]

CE Plamsa pistol is unironically the best weapon in the game baring the magnum

[@warreng675]

Magnum, then Shotgun, then plasma pistol

[@theimperfectgod7140]

Melt the shield with charged, Magnum to the dome

[@gokufromfortnite5600]

you don't even need the magnum, the plasma pistol does a lot of damage normally and especially with the charged shot@@theimperfectgod7140

[@asimplepie2279]

Honestly I’m shocked you put the CE plasma pistol that low. It has pretty decent damage and you can shoot it fast af. I think it’s around the same in effectiveness as the plasma rifle

[@you900001]

Did you play halo 1? The plasma pistol is one of the best guns in the game.

[@Nikos.]

I played CE toi much, that thing is rubish 😂😂😂

[@you900001]

@@Nikos. you need to play it on legendary, the plasma pistol is clutch. So good.

[@Horgler]

@@Nikos. The CE plasma pistol is amazing, even without the overcharge. I’d take it over the Assault Rifle any day.

[@beetayeeta1353]

Also the plasma rifle is the one with stunning, I don’t remember the plasma pistol doing that

[@theimperfectgod7140]

The most abundant weapon too, It fires as quick as you click...

[@Professorfrenchfry]

I DOUBLE dare you to replay Halo 1 and 2 on legendary solo without using the plasma pistol.

[@ryanrhad745]

When you first saw the CE Magnum, were you blinded by its majesty?

[@Nikos.]

Blinded?

[@ratonautonomo8963]

@@Nikos. Paralyzed? Dumbstruck?

[@kanestalin7246]

@@Nikos. Paralyzed? Dumbstruck?

[@MetalGearRaxis]

@@Nikos. Paralyzed? Dumbstruck?

[@warreng675]

Paralyzed, dumbstruck

[@thelizardking3807]

Definitely would have rated the CE plasma pistol higher. I find it very useful in campaign. Also 5:34 it’s an 8 gauge shotgun 😤

[@Orinslayer]

A gauge is how many groupings of pellets you'd need to make a pound of shot. 1/8 is 8 gauge. 8 shotgun shells is a pound of lead.

[@thelizardking3807]

@@Orinslayer what about it

[@TurtlezzYT]

It’s a 12 gauge

[@thelizardking3807]

@@TurtlezzYT lol no it’s not

[@jakebatty530]

Just a note on the halo 2 needler, it fires faster when you spam the trigger instead of holding it, single or dual wield, which can actually make it pretty deadly as it probably doubles the fire rate

[@Nikos.]

Wow is that true?

[@onlyws6810]

@@Nikos. tried it on MCC, seems accurate

[@whitepanther5657]

I was skeptical when you put the Assualt rifle at C tier, but the CE plasma pistol at D tier? That’s comedy

[@chiefisreal3476]

The Halo 1 Plasma rifle stuns enemies real good. Can't even turn around when you're being hit by that. And the Halo 2 needler is a hell of a lot better than the Halo 1 needler. I can get kills with that One but not the one from CE that's totally useless.

[@anakinraliere5637]

"the normal spam firing is pretty unneffective" he tells, while showing spamming on flood shreds them appart.

[@V3RAC1TY]

right? its like hes stupid

[@Jarekthegamingdragon]

In this case, you have to compare weapons within their respective game. In this context the Halo 2 BR is WAAAAY better than the CE pistol. The H2 br IS Halo 2. Utterly over powered, nothing can contest it. Mean while CE's sandbox is fairly balanced, just for a faster ttk over all. The CE pistol really is not op and the Assault rifle is significantly better than you're describing. I made an entire video about this on my channel. Extremely misunderstood weapons.

[@Nikos.]

I understand what you mean, and as someone who has played the games since as long as I can remember, the CE pistol far in a way is the superior option at all ranges. The CE ar is by no means bad, it is just outclassed by the shotgun and pistol at close range. The h2 br was the meta for halo 2 as much as the CE pistol was the meta for CE. CE's sandbox is just not very well balanced, but it isn't as bad as some are claiming it to be.

[@Jarekthegamingdragon]

@@Nikos. That's very untrue. Both the assault rifle and Plasma rifle can check the pistol up close. Especially when you factor in double melees. The pistol also doesn't have the insane aim assist that the BR does, 3 shots aren't common against competent opponents. Mean while the br is always the right choice at all ranges aside from power weapons. Even then a BR can surprisingly check a sword if played right. It's busted.

[@MetalGearRaxis]

I'm a little confused about the placement of the CE Plasma Pistol. Are you ranking it purely by its own merits, ignoring its part in the noob combo?

[@GreenArc]

NICE! (also the plasma rifle GREATLY stuns enemies in mutltiplayer)

[@CheeseChud]

Big chungus

[@edwardblair7021]

Amazing video agreed with most of the list tho I thought the shotgun in CE would be higher up but great video

[@Bmuenks31]

Halo CE needler is great on legendary as the full clip hit one zealot and combined 3 times killing him instantly Also the shotgun is 8 gauge

[@warreng675]

Got me out of some sticky situations

[@genuinesaucy]

The Brute Shot's grenades always explode in the exact same amount of time after they bounce off any surface that isn't an enemy. That's, like, literally the exact opposite of unpredictable.

[@Nikos.]

Stay tuned to see this sublime list completed in full!

[@12591259]

awesome video...at last a tier list of ALL Halo weapons!! can't wait to see additional parts!

[@andromeda7200]

An ADHD Plasma Rifle. That's a new one.

[@xDinomanx]

Good tier list but a couple of things: -The H2 Magnum, Brute Shot and Sentinel Beam got buffed in H2A multiplayer and are much stronger than their H2 Classic counterparts. H2A also has an Assault Rifle that should be on the list. -The Halo 2 Fuel Rod Cannon did end up getting added to MCC multiplayer around a year ago, although not a weapon pickup on any maps you can get it in fiesta or by choosing it as a starting weapon.

[@J4RUBY]

CE plasma pistol is one of the best weapons in the game. Providing stuns, shield EMP, shielding shredding, large ammo capacity, and good shredding ability in general

[@chase0300]

Is this for Multiplayer or Story because there is a big difference in how weapons function.

[@LethalDose161]

I find CE's AR is a B tier personally. While not the best at damage, it's decent for knocking out shields and hordes of weaker enemies. While the magnum is incredibly powerful, it doesn't do as well against hordes of small enemies compared to the AR given it's precision and fire rate. The plasma pistol is also underrated I find. It's a must for legendary playthroughs as it cuts through shields like butter. All you need is one or two shots to the head. Plasma pistol paired with magnum is pretty kickass in CQC, useful for many of the missions.

[@Purplox]

The Halo 2 fuel rod actually is in multiplayer. If you load up MCC and turn on fiesta you can gain access to it and it defo is the most broken in the series. The splash damage against enemy Spartans and elites in multiplayer is insane.

[@benc77]

That’s probably why it’s only in fiesta

[@spastictreefrog]

Halo ce plasma pistols overcharged blast can kill unshielded enemies and it tracks enemies pretty well

[@Nikos.]

Dog I'd rather have anything else lol

[@spastictreefrog]

@@Nikos. multi-player, you're probably right, campaign? 🤌🤌🤌👌👌👌👌👌

[@northernpolaris9895]

@@spastictreefrog everybody just thinks of multiplayer nowadays. The shotgun claps in campaign, the sniper claps in campaign (both in CE). They nerfed the guns in the future games too hard cuz they just thought about the multiplayer

[@qsfff5099]

@@Nikos. ce plasma pistol actually deals more damage per shot than plasma rifle and can be spamclicked to bigger attack speed, quickly shredding elites on legendary

[@williamgrant3231]

I definitely felt the same way about the beam rifle. It's way easier to do no scopes with than the sniper.

[@nickjfv6304]

Dude I have the same quirk with the beam rifle. I always pull off no scopes with that thing. It has to be the reticle. Maybe it’s shape helps too. Basically a big triangle pointing at your target

[@opulenthalo]

Damn bro, a lot of work seems to have gone into this so everyone lets blow this up!!!

[@Nikos.]

I'm hoping so, my tier lists used to pop off to the moon!

[@vibes_4225]

CE Magnum is my favorite weapon in the series, i played halo 1 again recently and oh my god it's so beautiful, it's just so fucking good and i love its design

[@x0lopossum]

8:36 Rewatching this Halo 2 multiplayer footage just gives me a feeling of legitness. Halo 2 multiplayers feel isbjust great based on this footage, halo infinite 2 needs to take notes.

[@CheeseChud]

Wow I actually received an ad for this video going to watch them

[@giygas9305]

6:36 Correct me if I’m wrong, but I believe the Halo 2 Anniversary multiplayer pistol was actually *buffed* from 14 headshots to 12. That may have been the infection variant but I remember learning it had a slight buff.

[@conorw0827]

Nice to know me getting sent to moon by the fuel rod cannon is in this video Anyway this is a great video

[@warreng675]

The plasma pistol in CE is the best in the series. WTF. If you want stats. Range: 60 Velocity: 25-15 damage: 20 Charge time: 0.6 Charge range: 40 Charge velocity: 15-10 Charge damage: 70

[@derekstone7426]

5:35 m90's an 8 gauge, and yeah the needler's not great on CE but hey the melee is pretty brutal.

[@LordEmpyreal]

I feel like just saying the Carbine can't keep up with the BR without making a point that it's only because the BR makes far better use of the various animation cancel glitches in the game is a disservice. The Carbine can't make effective use of the rapid fire, or BxR (on full health targets*) bugs, so it only benefits from reload cancelling. But if those bugs weren't in the game, it would stand toe to toe with the BR in H2. I agree with the placement. Just think the reason why should have been brought up.

[@Warpoo]

This honestly made my day better, another great tier list by the man Nikos

[@Kyle-nm1kh]

Any reason why halo CE sniper isnt double S? The fire rate was like a beam rifle but with a 4 shot capacity

[@generalmadness6832]

Needles in ce is amazing it does huge huge damage only issue is that it has no ammo whatsoever

[@Leo.23232]

in ce campaign, plasma pistol is the best gun in the game. idk how you can say its spam firing is innefective its insanely op dps at close range

[@MartianBuddy]

Plasma pistol is A tier, decent damage, you can spam it, plentiful and can overcharge.

[@DanielP-jq4dj]

Battle Rifle is my favorite weapon in the series, because of its perfect accuracy, and how it sounds, at least in the older games. Halo 2 is my favorite because without the assault rifle, the battle rifle was much more abundant.

[@Professorfrenchfry]

Halo 2 fuel rod gun is also objectively one of the best guns in the entire history of the halo sandbox so idk what you thought you were doing there.

[@Professorfrenchfry]

Dude says the Fuel rod lacks in “damage output”??! It has a 5 shot mag!! WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT

[@dualshooter2461]

Plasma pistol from CE is godlike

[@PelinalDidNothingWrong]

I absolutely love CE's Flamethrower. It's so much fun and I really hope a future game brings it back. I enjoyed 3's Flamethrower but it wasn't as good as CE's

[@CheeseChud]

Funny how me and green arc were here when you were making list

[@Nikos.]

Those sneak peaks though

[@georgeprchal3924]

Halo 1 Shotgun is an S Tier weapon in any video game.

[@thomasshermer3000]

OK hear me out. I'm not here to offend anyone nor am I here to say anyone is bad at halo, but it seems to me that this tier list is inspired less by personal experience and more by what the halo community says in general about these weapons. I just have to disagree with a some examples, the MA5B, The CE and Halo 2 Needlers, and the plasma pistol. Now here's the controversial part: these weapons would be absolute beasts if you knew how to properly use them. The MA5B is good at mid to long range if you fire in short controlled bursts like the game repeatedly tells you to do. The CE Needler is actually not bad. you just have to keep the target between the reticles at all times and the needles will track the target with some freakishly good precision. as for halo 2, dual wield them!!! they reload fast and they shred at close range. and then the plasma pistol. Overcharge, then spam shot. fast. that's all it takes. I got an overkill with a plasma pistol once. My friend bet me $20. you just have to learn how to use each weapon properly, and don't be so picky.

[@Nikos.]

🤔🤔🤔 I might just be a hardcore br and precision weapon kid. These guns deserve a second chance

[@Werecoolithink]

Nice! Another tier list! Keep up the good work! By the way, when I say keep up the good work, I mean keep making good content like you do.

[@Nikos.]

Thanks! Will do!

[@josephlewis2483]

Bro hate to do this to you but you claimed the CE shot gun to be a 20 gauge. It’s an 8.

[@Nikos.]

Nooooo :( I've betrayed the lore

[@josephlewis2483]

@@Nikos. it’s ok man. Just address it or sum in your next video

[@kyleloughran6031]

The beam rifle has a faster time to kill with body shots than the human sniper with body shots

[@kabob0077]

Hey, uh, you're gonna have to remake this tier list soon...

[@evernewb2073]

uhhhh, my dude? the halo1 plasma pistol has no max fire rate: it's supposed to deal more damage and use more ammo the longer you hold the button down, thing is? the damage bottoms out at about what you get from a normal casual trigger pull but the fire rate doesn't cap out and the ammo cost never stops scaling down so there is *_no_* lower cap on how short your button press can be up until you hit the limit at which the game can accept inputs. even just twitchy fingers on a controller render the plasma pistol the highest dps weapon in the game by a comfortable margin and give it a couple thousand shots in the pack, if you're playing it on a pc and have a trigger bound to scrollwheel or a repeater macro or somesuch (or a turbo controller for your console...lots of games included what amount to legalized cheats for those which is probably the real reason something this insanely abusable made it into the game) you can get the plasma pistol producing more than 1 shot per frame at cap frame rate and firing for a couple minutes straight at several thousand RPM, at that point it doesn't just out dps and outlast any other weapon, it deals more damage and has more ammo than every other weapon combined...sans the vehicles on the ammo part.

[@Nikos.]

Holy crap this is in depth. I just can't use the gun probably bc I'm a casual. Where would you put it on the tier list?

[@evernewb2073]

@@Nikos. literally gamebreaking _with outside help_ if you just get good at button mashing without completely trashing your aim? ehhhhh...depends on the person but probably not much better than the plasma rifle, especially since it has next to no auto-track in a game that lays it on pretty heavy and at least in console that actually makes a significant difference in the travel time of your aim reticule. dps usually comes second to usability in halo games unless a gun is weak enough that it simply gives far too much time to react, the best guns just happen to have a lot of both.

[@V3RAC1TY]

@@evernewb2073 trash in MP tho

[@evernewb2073]

@@V3RAC1TY again, without the third party tools to allow you to truly abuse the fire rate it wasn't game breaking. going purely on player skill and the stock controller's trigger mechanics you basically had a stronger plasma rifle with no spread but also next to no auto-aim that required a great deal of physical skill on the part of the player to still use the rest of their controlls effectively while spamming the trigger. with a turbocontroller though the damned things were essentially just a constant beam of instant death, it was essentially a microsoft approved-and-enforced hack until they flipped on the matter and disabled them because it looked _exactly_ like someone was hacking whenever someone used it. it still worked outside of pvp and was magnified to hilarious proportions in the pc version where macros could send commands FAR faster than turbocontrollers were set up to repeat them and the game's changed under-the-hood mechanics allowed the game to accept commands at a much higher rate and lower duration.

[@THEL05]

2:26 Ok, I can’t take this list seriously anymore…

[@cuinderblockdeer4102]

I’m sorry but double needlers helped me so much on my recent H2 heroic run I think they are OP in H2

[@alvarojflorez]

Duuuuude you can't have the CE shotgun and the Halo 2 shotgun at the same level. The CE shotgun slays.

[@jacobtridef48]

Agreed. H1 shotgun is great. The H2 one kinda lacks in comparison

[@imperialguardproductions]

I'd put the brute plasma rifle in either A or S tier. That thing shreds in cqc.

[@user-bt8yp1sh2e]

Halo ce plasma rifle absolutely shreds

[@MrLoke417]

It kinda feels like the ranking is based on mixture of normal difficulty campaign and multiplayer. It would definitely better if you mention what difficulty you based on as every gun performs differently in different difficulty level.

[@memeboi3448]

pov this us exactly what you were looking for

[@warreng675]

Shotgun should be top tier with the pistol. Arguably one of the best weapons in every Halo game. Pistol, Shotgun and plasma pistol are top tier weapons

[@savbeeing7376]

will you stream season 2?

[@ODST-HELLDIVER_V3117]

Not sure if you do this but in halo 2 if you had a sniper rifle and energy sword you could scope in until the Crosshair turned red and quickly switch to the energy sword and lunge across the map!

[@Nikos.]

I need to try that now

[@evilcam]

Bungie fixed that pretty quickly, as I remember it being dealt with before the calendar went from 2004 to 2005. I remember the first time I saw someone use it in multiplayer, as I thought someone was modding/hacking already, and it was only like 2-3 days after Halo 2 launched. About an hour after finding out what that person was doing, my room mate and I were doing the same thing in custom games, just to see how it worked. The sniper worked well for it, but I always had better luck with the rocket launcher as the lunge glitch seemed to be based on the targeting reticule being red (hovering over an enemy) when you quick swapped to the sword, so the larger Rocket reticule seemed to allow the lunge glitch/ bug to almost always work. It was cool while it lasted, but in the end it was a good thing that Bungie patched it, because once almost everyone paying MP figured it out, you did not really want to play on maps with swords anymore as you'd often find yourself in some sort of perma spawn camp if someone who was good with the lunge glitch got ahold of it.

[@player1nt629]

this tier list would be a lot different if the guns were judged based off of campaign

[@sreeenivas00706]

I dunno man, the brute shot is great for killing charging brutes and even flood forms!

[@connorholtzclaw1032]

if you have a jitter finger u can ultimately kill any elite with it so its ss or s

[@SmokesKwazukii]

i wish the fuel rod and flamethrower couldve been added to CE campaign somehow

[@38mb.]

plasma pistol in D tier is crazy

[@savbeeing7376]

Halo 2 BR > every other weapon known to man

[@Nikos.]

but that ce god pistol tho

[@princeoffriendship]

Why so much hate for the needler? It has always been my favorite.... I guess it matches my gameplay, it has a lot of advantages if you know how to play with it. It always depends on the gamer, for example I find the pistol the weakest weapon.

[@Nikos.]

I think the needler is just a hard pass bc the rest of the sandbox really out performs it. I will say in H3 onwards it gets rediculously good

[@zachlance6301]

@@Nikos. I disagree dual wielding needlers in halo 2 is op af

[@brendanmaclean3013]

The Halo CE shotgun is 8 gauge not 20

[@MrLemonadefreak]

You didnt mention how CE plasma rifle has a stun effect that is super useful in any team senario, and the AR has a faster melee than every other gun in CE. Plasma pistol also shreds in CE. Its like you didnt really play CE at all dude...

[@TheJenovaQC]

I'd argue SSS for H2 Br because of the glitch moves like the double shots, BxR and BxB

[@jacobtridef48]

If you do reach, and Needle Rifle isn’t near the top. I’ll be shocked. That thing could Legit carry you through many Reach Legendary Solo missions (if you could manage ammo for it well)

[@warreng675]

Halo 2's magnum should be next to Halo CE's needler

[@ninjastyle8209]

You know the the needler in halo 2 is kinda useful in campaign against brutes if you don't know

[@Nikos.]

In Halo 3 it was kinda broken

[@ninjastyle8209]

@@Nikos. sorry I meant the needler in halo 2 I forgot to type it

[@Relaxed008]

Great list from a greater KZbinr

[@theimperfectgod7140]

The CE Ar... If it was accurate enough it would be very nice...

[@rorystockley5969]

I have no idea what you're thinking with those CE rankings

[@memekingplays]

i would put halo 2 in A as i liked its sound in h2a it satisfies me

[@renanqf3975]

MC firing magnum for the 1st time in halo 2: -look how they massacred my boy...

[@gregorywilliams4751]

I think the shotgun in CE if not all the halos is an 8-gauge, not 20.

[@kramermagic12]

Can you link whatever you used for the tierlist?

[@Nikos.]

I would if I could, using an art program sorry, I'll try and see if I can work something out :D

[@epichunter7737]

Am I the only one that noticed that in halo ce clip ~3:50 he dropped a magnum for a rocket launcher even tho he ranked the magnum 2 tiers above the launcher?

[@Nikos.]

I did for recording of this video. I already got footage of the magnum earlier. Magnum still op

[@user-wy5fu9eb4k]

Brother AR doesn't mean what you think it means, it doesn't mean assault rifle, it means ArmaLite Rifle

[@Gruntwitagun]

In halo 3 if you dual wield the needler and the plasma rifle you can commit genocide without overheating

[@Tennischamp450]

This video shows you didn’t play CE campaign

[@suddenshotty]

I'd throw the Halo:2 RL in SS tier, the lockon ruined many Banshee Players on console! I've slowly got better where I can get dumbfire hits, the Halo 2 RL feels like cheating. Looking forward to more! Also, the Noob combo in Halo 1 should bump the Plasma Pistol up, it becomes a solid choice for Legendary Campaign!

[@zendave69]

Part two please

[@Nikos.]

Already done!

[@alexanderelderhorst2107]

But the ce plasma pistol can drop grunts in a second on legendary... it's decent

[@braedonleshe6722]

Halo 2 beam rifle is a SSS in the hands of a jackle

[@FearTheImpaler]

if most people pickup snipers and rockets and use them instead of magnum and br, why arent they ranked higher?

[@angrygecko1388]

I would have to disagree on the halo 2 needler, well in the campaign at least, I don't think I use it in multiple player

[@dizzymoosic]

the funny guy ranks guns

[@spencerjacobs4906]

The halo shotgun is chambered in 8 guage

[@bionickchief]

ce plasma pistol is better than plasma rifle and h2 carbine is A tier at least

[@fanamatakecick97]

Damn, i’m really late to the party here

[@funfact6880]

You already lost me with your CE PP rating. It has 500 shots per battery, does double damage to elite shields, and 4x to Sentinels. The melee is fast enough to stunlock and the weapon works very well even at medium range. The two pistols pair perfectly in any difficulty.

[@Nikos.]

I understand the argument as well as how people mention that the PP can stun players but I still think that thing is mid in most situations, that's just my opinion ofc

[@deifiedtitan]

Glad these comments are shredding that CE plasma pistol take. Wildly incorrect. Pretty off base about the carbine too. Oftentimes it’s the only precision weapon you have access to which immediately makes it one of the better weapons in the game. Don’t think this list was particularly researched other than just how you felt about them when playing.