Halo: Combat Evolved Pistol

This article documents its subject as it pertains to the gameplay of the Halo games, rather than the lore.

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This article is about the weapon featured in Halo: CE and Halo 5: Guardians. For other uses of the term "pistol", see its disambiguation page.

CE Pistol
Gameplay role
Faction:	Human (UNSC)
Weapon tier (?):	Tier-1 Loadout / Utility weapon
Weapon class (?):	Pistol
Weapon type (?):	Kinetic Precision weapon
Firing mode:	Automatic
Effective range:	Medium to long
Counterparts:	As a pistol: Human (UNSC) Magnum Sidekick Covenant Plasma Pistol Mauler Banished Mangler Forerunner Boltshot As a utility weapon: Human (UNSC) Battle Rifle DMR Magnum Commando Covenant Carbine Needle Rifle Forerunner Lightrifle
Weapon stats
Damage:	Medium to high
Projectile speed:	High
Rate of fire:	Medium
Accuracy:	High
Magazine size:	12 bullets
Zoom:	2x magnification

The Pistol, often referred to as the Halo: Combat Evolved Pistol, Halo 1 Pistol, or CE Pistol to distinguish it from later human pistols, is a variant of Magnum first appearing in Halo: Combat Evolved. Despite its appearance as a handgun the Pistol was extremely effective in its role as a mid range weapon, so much so that it outperformed many other weapons both in campaign and multiplayer. It's design and function would be separated into two new weapons for the sequel Halo 2, being the Magnum and Battle Rifle respectively.

Universe and lore

Main article: M6D magnum

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Overview

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Legacy

"In Halo, the pistol behaved more like a rifle than the assault rifle, and the assault rifle behaved more like a submachine gun. Now we have a rifle that behaves like a rifle, an SMG that behaves like an SMG, and a pistol that behaves like a pistol."

— Robert McLees"

The Halo: Combat Evolved Pistol would go on to be a very influential and notorious weapon even amongst other video games. Its power both as a pistol and in comparison to Halo 1's other weapons lead players to both love and hate its overpowered nature. This aspect has been the source of many parodies and internet memes, most of which were on the now shut down Machinima YouTube channel. For Halo 2's development Bungie seeked to remedy these criticisms and have a weapon sandbox with roles better depicted through their visual designs. The Pistol tag was directly used to create the Battle Rifle which served as the sequel's utility weapon, while the Pistol model was used in the creation of the new Magnum.

Counterparts

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• 

  Magnum
  Halo 2, Halo 3, Halo 3: ODST, Halo: Reach, Halo 4, Halo: Spartan Assault, Halo 2: Anniversary multiplayer, Halo: Spartan Strike, Halo Online, Halo 5: Guardians, and Halo: Fireteam Raven

• 

  Sidekick
  Halo Infinite

• 

  Plasma Pistol
  Halo: Combat Evolved, Halo 2, Halo 3, Halo 3: ODST, Halo: Reach, Halo 4, Halo: Spartan Assault, Halo 2: Anniversary multiplayer, Halo: Spartan Strike, Halo Online, Halo 5: Guardians, Halo: Fireteam Raven and Halo Infinite

• 

  Mauler
  Halo 3, Halo 3: ODST, and Halo Online

• 

  Mangler
  Halo Infinite

• 

  Boltshot
  Halo 4 and Halo 5: Guardians

• 

  Battle Rifle
  Halo 2, Halo 3, Halo 4, Halo: Spartan Assault, Halo 2: Anniversary multiplayer, Halo: Spartan Strike, Halo Online, Halo 5: Guardians, and Halo Infinite

• 

  DMR
  Halo: Reach, Halo 4, Halo Online, and Halo 5: Guardians

• 

  Commando
  Halo Infinite

• 

  Covenant Carbine
  Halo 2, Halo 3, Halo 4, Halo 2: Anniversary multiplayer, Halo Online, and Halo 5: Guardians

• 

  Needle Rifle
  Halo: Reach

• 

  LightRifle
  Halo 4 and Halo 5: Guardians

Halo: Combat Evolved and Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary

Pistol
Gameplay role
Counterparts:	As a pistol: Covenant Plasma Pistol As a utility weapon: none
Weapon stats
Damage:	25 (can headshot) 1.5x vs spartan health
Damage type (?):	pistol\bullet
Projectile speed:	300 wu/s
Hitscan range (?):	10 wu
Max range:	40 wu
Rate of fire:	Tag: 3.5 rounds per second Runtime: ~3.33 rounds per second
Spread (?):	SP: 0.2 to 0.4 degrees (0.2 degrees min error) MP: 0.2 to 2 degrees (0 degrees min error)
Reserve ammo capacity:	120 rounds (12 magazines)
Tag name (?):	pistol

Main article: First-person shooter

Campaign

The Pistol is the first weapon given to the player, and by extension the first weapon to be usable in a Halo game. It is an extremely effective weapon maintaining usefulness in most situations. It can 1 shot kill any character with an exposed head, does decent damage to shields, and can one shot kill hunters when fired into their exposed backs. The Truth and Reconciliation is the only campaign mission to not feature the Pistol. The Pistol is noticeably ineffective against Sentinels, especially those with energy shields.

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Multiplayer

When playing a default gametype the Pistol is the primary starting weapon for the maps Sidewinder, Hang Em High, Boarding Action, Chiron TL-34, Ice Fields, Death Island, Danger Canyon, Infinity, Timberland, and Gephyrophobia. It is the secondary starting weapon for the map Rat Race, paired with the Assault Rifle taking the place of primary weapon. Otherwise custom game settings can be edited to have the Assault Rifle and Pistol be the starting weapons on any map, which is the setting used with Classic Slayer Pro. It is capable of killing a fully shielded player in three shots to the head or five body shots.

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Halo 2

Main article: Magnum

While not appearing in gameplay due to being fully replaced by the Battle Rifle and Magnum, the original pistol model appears as an easter egg on the multiplayer map Tombstone.

Halo: Reach

Main article: Magnum (Halo: Reach)

With the release of Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary and the Anniversary Map Pack for Halo: Reach, anniversary gametypes were added which featured a rework to the Magnum in an attempt to replicate the gameplay and balancing of Halo: Combat Evolved's Pistol. The Magnum was made fully automatic, its rate of fire was lowered, and could now kill a spartan in 3 headshots or 5 body shots. These changes were built off of the existing Title Update settings such as the reduction to max spread, although due to the new lower firerate the anniversary Magnum is even more accurate when compared to the title update Magnum or even the original Halo: Combat Evolved Pistol. Finally the projectile velocity, magazine size, and reserve ammo count remained unchanged. This makes the anniversary Magnum easier to use than the Halo: Combat Evolved Pistol but with half the killing potential per magazine.

Halo 5: Guardians

Disclaimer: all below statistics are derived from unofficial tools and may be inaccurate

Halo: Combat Evolved Pistol
Gameplay role
Weapon tier (?):	Power weapon
Counterparts:	As a pistol: Human (UNSC) Magnum Covenant Plasma Pistol Forerunner Boltshot As a utility weapon: Human (UNSC) Battle Rifle (Halo 2) DMR Magnum Covenant Covenant Carbine Forerunner Lightrifle
Weapon stats
Damage:	25 (can headshot)
Damage type (?):	bullet_slow
Projectile speed:	3000 wu/s
Hitscan range (?):	100 wu
Max range:	250 wu
Rate of fire:	~3.33 rounds per second
Spread (?):	0 to 3 degrees
Reserve ammo capacity:	120 rounds (10 magazines) 144 rounds with Patrol Case
Melee damage (?):	strike_melee
Tag name (?):	magnum_h1
Variants and attachments
Halo 5 REQ variant(s):	None

Multiplayer and Warzone

"You’ll have to find ammo as you go. Classic Magnum with increased damage and higher recoil. Infuses the user with nostalgia and increased movement speed."

— REQ description

The M6D returns in Halo 5: Guardians as a mythic power weapon that can be requisitioned in Warzone and naturally spawns on some big team battle maps as a power weapon. It retains the same stopping power found in Combat Evolved, but is more user friendly due to its near-hitscan properties. Due to this, leading shots is no longer required. It also bears a slightly faster reload time.

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Unlock and acquisition requirements

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Skins and cosmetics

The CE Pistol received a few equipable weapon skins in the MCC release of Halo: Combat Evolved.

Halo: Combat Evolved (MCC)

Main article: Skins (Halo: Combat Evolved)

Pistol v • d • e
Icon	Name	Description	Unlock requirements
	Default	Default skin.	Unlocked by default
	Desert	Looks very stylish with a poncho.	Series 2, Tier 2 ( 1)
	Great Journey	Don't worry... I know what the aliens like.	Series 2, Tier 14 ( 1)
	Hazard Pay	Safety first!	Series 2, Tier 36 ( 1)
	Woodland	Camping is a legitimate strategy.	Series 2, Tier 41 ( 1)
	Toy Soldier	They're not dolls, they're action figures!	Series 2, Tier 62 ( 1)
	Black Cherry	Get a grip. Shoot from the hip.	Series 2, Tier 91 ( 1)
	Golden	Bling on the ring.	Series 2 Challenge: Trusty Sidekick Defeat 500 opponents with the Pistol in any game mode. The Exchange ( 2)

Gallery

Concept art

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Renders

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HUD icons

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Screenshots

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List of appearances

• Halo: Combat Evolved (First appearance)
  • Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary
• Halo 2 (Easter egg-only)
• Halo Wars
• Halo 5: Guardians