Z-130 Suppressor

Z-130 Suppressor
Production overview
Manufacturer:	Forerunner
Type:	Directed energy automatic weapon
Specifications
Length:	94.2 centimeters (37.1 in)
Width:	15 centimeters (5.9 in)
Height:	36 centimeters (14 in)
Weight:	6.4 kilograms (14 lb)
Ammunition type:	Light mass
Feed system:	48 rounds (Halo 4); 42 rounds (Halo 5: Guardians);
Operation:	Coil set architecture
Rate of fire:	~900 RPM (Halo 4); ~450 RPM (Halo 5: Guardians);
Muzzle velocity:	98 m/s (220 mph)[citation needed]
Effective range:	Short (Halo 4); Short to medium (Halo 5: Guardians);
Service history
In service:	Kradal conflicts ; Human-Forerunner wars ; Forerunner-Flood War ; Post-Covenant War conflicts

The Z-130 Directed Energy Automatic Weapon,^[4] also called the Suppressor, is a fully automatic Forerunner energy weapon.^[5] It is commonly utilized by Promethean Knights.^[6]

Overview

Service history

The Suppressor was first introduced during the Kradal conflicts. It gained prominence during the human-Forerunner war and the Forerunner-Flood war.^[1] The Suppressor is a fully automatic weapon employing a conventional coil set architecture that fires bolts of hard light in rapid succession. Its high rate of fire and efficiency against the Flood led to its widespread use among the Forerunner warriors during the Forerunner-Flood war, particularly when attempting to retake vessels captured by the Flood; however, it is similarly effective against all organic matter.^[3] Thousands of years later, the Suppressor's coil set design was reverse-engineered by the Covenant for many of their weapons.^[2]

A small number of Sangheili members within Jul 'Mdama's Covenant and Spartan-IVs aboard the UNSC Infinity also utilized the Z-130 during the Requiem Campaign.^[7] It is ranked a Common REQ in Warzone simulations, and is available at Level 1 energy while giving 50 REQ points if sold.

Design details

The weapon possesses an angular design and metallic casing. It appears to be held together, at least partly, by energy fields as indicated by its self-assembly process. Orange highlights can be seen while the weapon is self-assembling and throughout the casing once assembly is complete; these highlights grow brighter when the weapon is fired.^[4]

Variants

Song of Peace

In the chaotic final days of the Forerunner ecumene an unfortunate number of the Librarian's Conservation Measure operations required military intervention to complete. Upgraded Suppressor with both a faster rate of fire and reduced recoil.^[8]

Razor's Edge

As extinction loomed, desperation led the Forerunners to experiment with volatile derivations of hard light. Advanced Suppressor firing fast-moving metastable energy shards. If multiple shards strike a target they will create a "supercombine" explosion, similar to blamite, causing targets to disintegrate.^[8]

Song of Peace.
Razor's Edge.

Gameplay

Advantages

The Suppressor holds a large ammunition capacity and deals considerable damage at close range, making it even lethal to non-shielded infantry. The Suppressor's high rate of fire is very advantageous in close-quarter situations. Although an individual shot from the Suppressor may do little damage to another player, its high rate of fire grants the weapon the fastest killing speed of all primary loadout weapons. The Suppressor is more efficient against unshielded individuals. Using a precision weapon, such as the M395 DMR, with the Suppressor allows the player to be effective at all distances. When paired with the plasma pistol, the plasma pistol can be used to eliminate an individual's shields, while the Suppressor is used to kill the now-unshielded enemy.

Disadvantages

Despite being the quickest-killing primary loadout weapon when every shot fired hits its target, the Suppressor's various disadvantages make it difficult to achieve this. It has little to no accuracy at medium and long range (even with short controlled bursts) and has a lengthy reload time. The Suppressor is not very efficient against shielded individuals. The bolts fired by the Suppressor move rather slow, requiring the player to be close to enemies or to lead the target. The Suppressor is not efficient at handling multiple shielded players at once, due to relatively low projectile speed and limited damage against shielded targets.

Changes from Halo 4 to Halo 5: Guardians

Weapon can now be Smart Scoped.
Accuracy and effective range significantly increased.
Shots now track enemies, similar to the Needler.
Rate of fire significantly decreased, and requires a short period before reaching maximum fire rate.
Decreased damage, now killing in 18 shots rather than 16.
Magazine holds 42 rounds rather than 48 rounds.
Ammo capacity decreased from 240 rounds to 168 rounds.
Reload speed lengthened.

Trivia

If Bottomless Clip is enabled in a Custom Game in Halo 5, then the Suppressor will fire only at its starting speed and will be unable to reach its maximum firing rate.^[9]

Gallery

Concept art of the Suppressor for Halo 4.
Concept art of the Suppressor.
The Suppressor in Halo 4.
Profile image of the Suppressor.
First-person view of the Suppressor in the Halo 4 campaign.
H4-SO-SuppressorRifle-FirstPerson.jpg

First-person view of the Suppressor in Spartan Ops.
H4-Z130Suppressor-Firing.jpg

The lines of the Z-130 Suppressor glows as it fires.
Z-130 reloading.jpg

A Z-130 being reloaded.
A Promethean Knight wielding a Suppressor.
Halo 4 infobox.
Forerunner symbols on the Halo 4 Refractive skin.
Another view of the symbols on the Halo 4 Refractive skin.
Mesh of the Halo 4 Refractive skin.
John-117 using a Suppressor during the Skirmish on Installation 03 in Halo: Escalation.
A Spartan using a Suppressor during the Battle of Installation 03 in Halo: Spartan Strike.
Edward Buck engaging a Promethean Knight while armed with a Suppressor.
First-person view of the Suppressor in Halo 5: Guardians
Smart scope with the Suppressor.
Third-person view of the Suppressor engaged in smart scope.
A Sangheili Ranger with a Z-130 on Skirmish at Darkstar.
First-person view of Song of Peace.
A Spartan wielding Song of Peace.
First-person view of Razor's Edge.
A Spartan wielding Razor's Edge.