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Weapon skins (Halo 4)

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For other uses, see Weapon skins.

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.[1] 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.[2]

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.

With the flight of Season 7: Elite, Halo 4 was subject to another content update, featuring numerous new weapon skins. Of these, "Concrete" was made officially available for the first time, along with another "Blood" skin, this time for the Magnum. Additionally, other skin sets were included, including the skins unlocked via codes exclusive to McFarlane's series of Halo 4 figures. Finally, fully new skin sets were made available, including the "Pixel", "Maw", and "Edgework" skin sets.

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
H4-MA5D-ICWS-AR-PrimeSkin.png
 Prime (PRM) Unlocked by purchasing the Halo 4 Limited Edition or the Halo 4 Game of the Year Edition
Render of the Assault Rifle's Predator skin.
 Predator (PDT) Reach Pathfinder Rank (Halo 4)Rank (Halo 4)
BR85HB SR (arctic camouflage).png
 Arctic (ACT) Unlocked by pre-ordering Halo 4 at specific retailers, or by purchasing the Halo 4 Game of the Year Edition
H4-BR85HBSR-Skin.png
 Dunes (DNE) Reach Stalker Rank (Halo 4)Rank (Halo 4)
H4-M395DMR-Skin.png
 Noble (NBL) Reach Wetwork Rank (Halo 4)Rank (Halo 4)
H4-CovenantCarbine-Skin.png
 Reign (RGN) Reach Rogue Rank (Halo 4)Rank (Halo 4)
H4-Z250LightRifle-ImprintSkin.png
 Imprint (IMP) Unlocked by purchasing the Halo 4 Xbox 360
Render of the Suppressor's (real) Shatter skin.
 Shatter (SHA) Reach Engineer Rank (Halo 4)Rank (Halo 4)
Render of the M6H's Static skin.
 Static (STC) Reach Operator Rank (Halo 4)Rank (Halo 4)
Render of the Plasma Pistol's Fracture skin.
 Fracture (FTC) Reach Pioneer Rank (Halo 4)Rank (Halo 4)
Render of the Boltshot's Piston skin.
 Piston (PST) Reach Tracker Rank (Halo 4)Rank (Halo 4)

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)
Render of the Assault Rifle's Turbine skin. Taken from The Master Chief Collection, and added since it's an erroneously flipped model. Resulting in improper charging handle placement.
 Turbine (TBN) Purchase the Champions Bundle or Steel Skin Pack. Season 4, Tier 45 (Spartan Point 1)
H4 Skin Teeth.png
 Teeth (TTH) Purchase the Champions Bundle Season 4, Tier 11 (Spartan Point 1)
H4 Skin Trauma.png
 Trauma (TRM) Purchase the Champions Bundle Season 4, Tier 48 (Spartan Point 1)
Render of the Battle Rifle's Steam skin.
 Steam (STM) Purchase the Champions Bundle or Steel Skin Pack. Season 4, Tier 46 (Spartan Point 1)
H4 Skin Salvage.png
 Salvage (SLV) Purchase the Champions Bundle Season 4, Tier 45 (Spartan Point 1)
Render of the DMR's Monocle skin.
 Monocle (MCL) Purchase the Champions Bundle or Steel Skin Pack. Season 4, Tier 14 (Spartan Point 1)
H4 - Striped skin (transparent).png
 Striped (STP) Unlocked by purchasing the Bullseye Pack and unlocking the classified Draetheus V archive. Season 4, Tier 33 (Spartan Point 1)
H4-T51CovenantCarbine-SteelSkin.png
 Locomotive (LMV) Purchase the Champions Bundle or Steel Skin Pack. Season 4, Tier 17 (Spartan Point 1)
H4-Z250LightRifle-SteelSkin.png
 Industrial (IDT) Purchase the Champions Bundle or Steel Skin Pack. Season 4, Tier 41 (Spartan Point 1)
H4-T55StormRifle-SteelSkin.png
 Compression (CMP) Purchase the Champions Bundle or Steel Skin Pack. Season 4, Tier 4 (Spartan Point 1)
H4-Z130SuppressorRifle-SteelSkin.png
 Mechanical (MCN) Purchase the Champions Bundle or Steel Skin Pack. Season 4, Tier 26 (Spartan Point 1)
Render of the Magnum's Combustion skin.
 Combustion (CBN) Purchase the Champions Bundle or Steel Skin Pack. Season 4, Tier 9 (Spartan Point 1)
Magnumskin1.png
 Indigo (IND) Purchase the Champions Bundle Season 4, Tier 6 (Spartan Point 1)
Magnumskin2.png
 Flare (FLR) Purchase the Champions Bundle Season 4, Tier 28 (Spartan Point 1)
Render of the Plasma Pistol's Boilerplate skin.
 Boilerplate (BPL) Purchase the Champions Bundle or Steel Skin Pack. Season 4, Tier 20 (Spartan Point 1)
H4-Z110BoltshotPistol-SteelSkin.png
 Engine (ENG) Purchase the Champions Bundle or Steel Skin Pack. Season 4, Tier 26 (Spartan Point 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 became available in Halo: The Master Chief Collection with the launch of Season 7: Elite.

Weapon skins
Skin Name Unlock (Halo 4) Unlock (Halo: The Master Chief Collection)
H4 - Riptide skin (transparent).png
 Riptide (RPT) Purchase the Master Chief figure from the Series 2 line of McFarlane figures for Halo 4. Season 7, Tier 19 (Spartan Point 1)
H4 - Bones skin (transparent).png
 Bones (BNS) Purchase the CIO Spartan figure from the Series 2 line of McFarlane figures for Halo 4. Season 7, Tier 29 (Spartan Point 1)
H4 - Engage skin (transparent).png
 Engage (ENG) Purchase the Storm Jackal figure from the Series 2 line of McFarlane figures for Halo 4. Season 7, Tier 85 (Spartan Point 1)
H4 - Chill skin (transparent).png
 Chill (CHL) Purchase the Elite Ranger figure from the Series 2 line of McFarlane figures for Halo 4. Season 7, Tier 35 (Spartan Point 1)
H4 - Refractive skin (transparent).png
 Refractive (RFC) Purchase the Ur-Didact figure from the Series 2 line of McFarlane figures for Halo 4. Season 7, Tier 83 (Spartan Point 1)

Unused skins

These are the skins that were added to Halo 4 during its 8/19/2013 update but were unusable outside a glitch. They were later made available in the Halo 4 component of Halo: The Master Chief Collection, with the "Blast" Battle Rifle skin being made available as of the launch of Season 4, and the "Concrete" DMR skin being made available as of the launch of Season 7.

Weapon skins
Skin Name Unlock (Halo 4) Unlock (Halo: The Master Chief Collection)
H4 Render BattleRifle-BLAST.png
 Blast (BLS) Unavailable Season 4 Challenge: Fireteam Frenzy
H4 Render DMR-CONCRETE.png
 Concrete (CTE) Unavailable Season 7, Tier 78 (Spartan Point 1)

Halo: The Master Chief Collection-exclusive skins

These skins are only available in the Halo 4 component of Halo: The Master Chief Collection. The "Blood" DMR skin was added with Season 4, while the rest were added with Season 7.

Weapon skins
Skin Name Unlock
H4 Render DMR-Blood.png
 Blood (BLD) Season 4 Challenge: Fireteam Spree
H4 Render AR-PIXEL.png
 Pixel (PXL) Season 7, Tier 87 (Spartan Point 1)
H4 Render BR-EDGEWORK.png
 Edgework (EWK) Season 7, Tier 67 (Spartan Point 1)
H4 Render BR-PIXEL.png
 Pixel (PXL) Season 7 Challenge: Pixel Perfect
H4 Render BR-MAW.png
 Maw (MAW) Season 7, Tier 74 (Spartan Point 1)
H4 Render DMR-PIXEL.png
 Pixel (PXL) Season 7, Tier 96 (Spartan Point 1)
H4 Render DMR-EWK.png
 Edgework (EWK) Season 7, Tier 92 (Spartan Point 1)
H4 Render Magnum-BLOOD.png
 Blood (BLD) Season 7, Tier 24 (Spartan Point 1)
H4 Render Magnum-MAW.png
 Maw (MAW) Season 7, Tier 81 (Spartan Point 1)
H4 Render Magnum-EWK.png
 Edgework (EWK) Season 7, Tier 13 (Spartan Point 1)
H4 Render Magnum-PIXEL.png
 Pixel (PXL) Season 7, Tier 79 (Spartan Point 1)

Gallery

Launch skins

  • Prime AR skin.

    Prime AR skin.

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

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

  • Predator AR skin.

    Predator AR skin.

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

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

  • Arctic BR skin.

    Arctic BR skin.

  • Dunes BR skin.

    Dunes BR skin.

  • Noble DMR skin.

    Noble DMR skin.

  • Reign Carbine skin.

    Reign Carbine skin.

  • Imprint lightrifle skin.

    Imprint lightrifle skin.

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

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

  • Shatter Suppressor skin.

    Shatter Suppressor skin.

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

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

  • Static Magnum skin.

    Static Magnum skin.

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

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

  • Fracture Plasma Pistol skin.

    Fracture Plasma Pistol skin.

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

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

  • Piston Boltshot skin.

    Piston Boltshot skin.

Champions Bundle skins

  • Turbine AR skin.

    Turbine AR skin.

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

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

  • Teeth AR skin.

    Teeth AR skin.

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

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

  • Trauma AR skin.

    Trauma AR skin.

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

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

  • Steam BR skin.

    Steam BR skin.

  • Salvage BR skin.

    Salvage BR skin.

  • Monocle DMR skin.

    Monocle DMR skin.

  • Striped DMR skin.

    Striped DMR skin.

  • Locomotive Carbine skin.

    Locomotive Carbine skin.

  • Industrial lightrifle skin.

    Industrial lightrifle skin.

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

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

  • Compression Storm Rifle skin.

    Compression Storm Rifle skin.

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

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

  • Mechanical Suppressor skin.

    Mechanical Suppressor skin.

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

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

  • Combustion Magnum skin.

    Combustion Magnum skin.

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

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

  • Indigo Magnum skin.

    Indigo Magnum skin.

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

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

  • Flare Magnum skin.

    Flare Magnum skin.

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

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

  • Boilerplate Plasma Pistol skin.

    Boilerplate Plasma Pistol skin.

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

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

  • Engine Boltshot skin.

    Engine Boltshot skin.

Figure exclusive skins

  • Riptide AR skin.

    Riptide AR skin.

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

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

  • Engage Carbine skin.

    Engage Carbine skin.

  • Bones DMR skin.

    Bones DMR skin.

  • Chill Storm Rifle skin.

    Chill Storm Rifle skin.

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

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

  • Refractive Suppressor skin.

    Refractive Suppressor skin.

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

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

Unused skins

  • Blast BR skin.

    Blast BR skin.

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

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

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

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

  • Concrete DMR skin.

    Concrete DMR skin.

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

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

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

    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.
  • Original Shatter skin

    Original Shatter skin

  • Launch Shatter skin

    Launch Shatter skin

  • During the “What’s Next: Halo 4 Summer 2013″ panel at RTX 2013, 343 Industries' promotional art for the bundle featured the "Bones" and "Striped" M395 DMR weapon skins as part of the content update's bonus content. The "Bones" skin would later be relegated to a code found with the CIO Spartan in Series 2 of McFarlane's Halo 4 line of figures, while the "Striped" skin could be unlocked through earning certain achievements in Halo: Spartan Assault.

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.
  • With the release of Season 7: Elite, the Storm Rifle's Chill skin is missing certain textures in Halo: The Master Chief Collection. On the Xbox 360 edition of Halo 4, the weapon's barrel, rotating coil, and small sections of the topside of the weapon are colored mint green. In Halo: The Master Chief Collection, these mint green regions are missing, and are erroneously colored with the weapon's base gray-silver.

References

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

Sources

  1. ^ Halo 4 Glitches: Unreleased Weapon Skins Tutorial
  2. ^ Twitter - Zeddikins, "Looking back at the MCC ui dumps, looks like the missing H4 weapon skins have icons, including the Concrete DMR and Blast BR."

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