Weapon skins (Halo 4)

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Weapon skins in Halo 4 allow players to customize the appearance of their SPARTAN-IV's loadout weapons. Weapon skins can be unlocked via progression in Specializations, purchasing specific editions of the game and DLC, and finally, by buying specific figures from Series 2 of the McFarlane line of figures.

Overview

Halo 4 features rudimentary weapon skin customization, with the player being able to simply swap preset patterns on their weapon in the loadout modification menu. However, this will only pertain to personal loadouts. Applying a skin to an M395 DMR and then picking up a DMR placed on the map will not result in the newly picked up weapon possessing the player's skin. However, at the same time, picking up a player's DMR which has a skin applied to it will feature the skin chosen by the player who owned it prior.

Halo: The Master Chief Collection

With Halo 4's flighting and release on PC, the weapon skin system was tuned. The game now allows the player to select a base skin for every weapon, independent of loadout. This selection will override default skins in gametypes like SWAT or Legendary Slayer. Should the player choose to, an override function exists in each loadout to make the skin of that specific loadout operate as it did in Halo 4.

Launch skins

Launch skins refer to the weapon skins that were in the game at launch. These include skins that were unlockable though Specializations, pre-ordering the game, or though special editions. These skins were able to be used in Spartan Ops.

Weapon skins can be unlocked in a multitude of ways, with the most common method of unlocking them being through the grinding of Specializations. For example, upon reaching Spartan Rank 5 within the Wetwork's Specialization, the "Noble" DMR skin tied to it will unlock for the player. Each specialization has one weapon skin tied to it.

Specific editions of the game, such as the Halo 4 Limited Edition also include special weapon skins for buyers. The Limited Edition includes the "Prime" assault rifle skin, specifically. These skins were later made available for buyers of the Halo 4 Game of the Year Edition. The Halo 4 Xbox 360 console includes the "Imprint" lightrifle skin, though this was not made available for buyers of the Halo 4 Game of the Year Edition.

DLC skins

DLC skins refer to skins that were available through the Champions Bundle, or though McFarlane Toys figures. These skins were not programmed into Spartan Ops, so they can not be used in it.

Unlocking skins can also be done by purchasing specially marked figures from Series 2 of the McFarlane toy line launched in 2013. For example, purchasing the Elite Ranger figure will unlock the "Chill" skin for the storm rifle.

Halo: The Master Chief Collection skins

With Halo 4 on the Xbox 360, there were two cut weapon skins which could not be unlocked legitimately, but still exist in the game files. These skins can be used in custom games, through a glitch. Renders of these weapon skins were later discovered in the game files of the "FireFlight", a public test of Halo: Reach's Firefight in the lead-up to Halo: The Master Chief Collection's PC release.

During the initial flight for Halo 4's release on PC, the "Blast" battle rifle skin was available as an option. Likewise, a wholly new skin dubbed the "Blood" DMR skin was revealed, featuring a pattern akin to the "Trauma" skin of Halo 4's assault rifle.

Cut skins

Originally meant to be included in Halo 4, alongside the "Blast" battle rifle skin, the "Concrete" DMR skin remains unaccounted for in Halo: The Master Chief Collection.

List of weapon skins

Launch skins

Note: All skins in this section are unlocked by default in Halo: The Master Chief Collection.

Weapon skins
Skin	Name	Unlock
	Prime (PRM)	Unlocked by purchasing the Halo 4 Limited Edition or the Halo 4 Game of the Year Edition
	Predator (PDT)	Reach Pathfinder
	Arctic (ACT)	Unlocked by pre-ordering Halo 4 at specific retailers, or by purchasing the Halo 4 Game of the Year Edition
	Dunes (DNE)	Reach Stalker
	Noble (NBL)	Reach Wetwork
	Reign (RGN)	Reach Rogue
	Imprint (IMP)	Unlocked by purchasing the Halo 4 Xbox 360
	Shatter (SHA)	Reach Engineer
	Static (STC)	Reach Operator
	Fracture (FTC)	Reach Pioneer
	Piston (PST)	Reach Tracker

Champions Bundle skins

These skins were included in the various components of the Champions Bundle; the Steel Skin Pack and Bullseye Map Pack could be purchased separately though buying the whole bundle included their contents and some exclusive skins. They were not available at launch of Halo: The Master Chief Collection, but have since been made available for use in the collection as of the launch of Season 4: Reclaimer.

Weapon skins
Skin	Name	Unlock (Halo 4)	Unlock (Halo: The Master Chief Collection)
	Turbine (TBN)	Purchase the Champions Bundle or Steel Skin Pack.	Season 4, Tier 45 ( 1)
	Teeth (TTH)	Purchase the Champions Bundle	Season 4, Tier 11 ( 1)
	Trauma (TRM)	Purchase the Champions Bundle	Season 4, Tier 48 ( 1)
	Steam (STM)	Purchase the Champions Bundle or Steel Skin Pack.	Season 4, Tier 46 ( 1)
	Salvage (SLV)	Purchase the Champions Bundle	Season 4, Tier 45 ( 1)
	Monocle (MCL)	Purchase the Champions Bundle or Steel Skin Pack.	Season 4, Tier 14 ( 1)
	Striped (STP)	Unlocked by purchasing the Bullseye Pack and unlocking the classified Draetheus V archive.	Season 4, Tier 33 ( 1)
	Locomotive (LMV)	Purchase the Champions Bundle or Steel Skin Pack.	Season 4, Tier 17 ( 1)
	Industrial (IDT)	Purchase the Champions Bundle or Steel Skin Pack.	Season 4, Tier 41 ( 1)
	Compression (CMP)	Purchase the Champions Bundle or Steel Skin Pack.	Season 4, Tier 4 ( 1)
	Mechanical (MCN)	Purchase the Champions Bundle or Steel Skin Pack.	Season 4, Tier 26 ( 1)
	Combustion (CBN)	Purchase the Champions Bundle or Steel Skin Pack.	Season 4, Tier 9 ( 1)
	Indigo (IND)	Purchase the Champions Bundle	Season 4, Tier 6 ( 1)
	Flare (FLR)	Purchase the Champions Bundle	Season 4, Tier 28 ( 1)
	Boilerplate (BPL)	Purchase the Champions Bundle or Steel Skin Pack.	Season 4, Tier 20 ( 1)
	Engine (ENG)	Purchase the Champions Bundle or Steel Skin Pack.	Season 4, Tier 26 ( 1)

Figure exclusive skins

These skins were made exclusive to purchases of the Halo 4 Series 2 McFarlane figures in the original Xbox 360 release of Halo 4. They are not presently useable in The Master Chief Collection, though they do remain within the game's files.

Weapon skins
Skin	Name	Unlock
	Riptide (RPT)	Purchase the Master Chief figure from the Series 2 line of McFarlane figures for Halo 4.
	Bones (BNS)	Purchase the CIO Spartan figure from the Series 2 line of McFarlane figures for Halo 4.
	Engage (ENG)	Purchase the Storm Jackal figure from the Series 2 line of McFarlane figures for Halo 4.
	Chill (CHL)	Purchase the Elite Ranger figure from the Series 2 line of McFarlane figures for Halo 4.
	Refractive (RFC)	Purchase the Ur-Didact figure from the Series 2 line of McFarlane figures for Halo 4.

Halo: The Master Chief Collection-exclusive skins

These skins are only available in the Halo 4 component of Halo: The Master Chief Collection as of the launch of Season 4. They were never available in the original Halo 4 release, as both were cut. However, Blast was accessible via a glitch.

Weapon skins
Skin	Name	Unlock
	Blast (BLS)	Season 4 Challenge: Fireteam Spree
	Blood (BLD)	Season 4 Challenge: Fireteam Frenzy

Cut skins

Weapon skins
Skin	Name	Unlock
	Concrete (CTE)	Unobtainable

Gallery

Launch skins

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  Prime AR skin.

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  Prime, while reloading, revealing more of the skin's pattern.

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  Predator AR skin.

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  Predator, while reloading, revealing more of the skin's pattern.

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  Arctic BR skin.

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  Dunes BR skin.

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  Noble DMR skin.

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  Reign Carbine skin.

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  Imprint lightrifle skin.

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  Imprint, while meleeing, revealing more of the skin's pattern.

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  Shatter Suppressor skin.

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  Shatter, while meleeing, revealing more of the skin's pattern.

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  Static Magnum skin.

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  Static, while reloading, offering a more clear view of the skin's pattern.

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  Fracture Plasma Pistol skin.

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  Fracture, while overcharged, revealing more of the skin's pattern.

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  Piston Boltshot skin.

Champions Bundle skins

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  Turbine AR skin.

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  Turbine, while reloading, revealing more of the skin's pattern.

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  Teeth AR skin.

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  Teeth, while reloading, revealing more of the skin's pattern.

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  Trauma AR skin.

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  Trauma, while reloading, revealing more of the skin's pattern.

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  Steam BR skin.

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  Salvage BR skin.

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  Monocle DMR skin.

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  Striped DMR skin.

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  Locomotive Carbine skin.

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  Industrial lightrifle skin.

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  Industrial, while meleeing, revealing more of the skin's pattern.

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  Compression Storm Rifle skin.

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  Compression Storm Rifle skin, while overheating, revealing more of the skin's pattern.

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  Mechanical Suppressor skin.

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  Mechanical Suppressor skin, while meleeing, revealing more of the skin's pattern.

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  Combustion Magnum skin.

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  Combusion Magnum skin, while reloading, offering a more clear view of the skin's pattern.

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  Indigo Magnum skin.

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  Indigo Magnum skin, while reloading, offering a more clear view of the skin's pattern.

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  Flare Magnum skin.

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  Flare Magnum skin, while reloading, offering a more clear view of the skin's pattern.

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  Boilerplate Plasma Pistol skin.

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  Boilerplate Plasma Pistol skin, while overcharged, revealing more of the skin's pattern.

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  Engine Boltshot skin.

Figure exclusive skins

• 

  Riptide AR skin.

• 

  Riptide, while reloading, revealing more of the skin's pattern.

• 

  Engage Carbine skin.

• 

  Bones DMR skin.

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  Chill Storm Rifle skin.

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  Chill, while overheating, revealing more of the skin's pattern.

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  Refractive Suppressor skin.

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  Refractive, while meleeing, revealing more of the skin's pattern.

Halo: The Master Chief Collection skins

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  Blast BR skin.

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  The cut BR85HB Blast skin if it was included in Halo 4.

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  A close-up of the menu render of the Blast skin in Halo 4's menu.

Cut skins

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  Concrete DMR skin.

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  The cut M395 DMR Concrete skin if it was included in the game.

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  A close-up of the menu render of the Concrete skin.

Trivia

Production notes

• The Suppressor's Shatter skin was originally a vibrant blue with black stripes lining the weapon. This would be changed so the blue coloration was the weapon's base, slate gray, although the weapon's icon wouldn't be fixed for Halo 4, with the change only being rectified upon the launch of Halo: The Master Chief Collection.

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  Original Shatter skin

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  Launch Shatter skin

Mistakes

• With the release of Season 4: Reclaimer, and the addition of Champions Bundle content, the newly updated menu features erroneously flipped MA5D renders for the Turbine and Teeth skins, resulting in the charging handle being placed on the wrong side of the weapon.

References

• The DMR's launch skin's name references NOBLE Team, with the pattern of the skin being the team's emblem.