Halo CE Campaign Weapon Tier List
This page includes my weapon tier list for Halo's Campaign. I've created this list with the first Halo's Campaign in mind which means the information is more biased towards PvE than it is PvP. Hopefully this list will help new players figure out which guns are the best to use in any given situation and give them information as to why.
Even though this list was made with Halo CE's Campaign in mind the information contained is still good for Multiplayer PvP scenarios. If you'd like to see some of the other lists I have made for Halo: The Master Chief Collection then follow the link provided or click on any of the links below.
Halo MCC Weapon Tier Lists
- Halo CE Tier List
- Halo 2 Tier List
- Halo 3 Tier List
- Halo 3 ODST Campaign Tier List
- Halo 3 ODST Firefight Tier List
- Halo 4 Tier List
- Halo Reach Campaign Tier List
- Halo Reach Firefight Tier List
God Tier
UNSC Pistol: The Pistol aka the Magnum is the strongest weapon in all of Halo 1, it deals about 75% of a Sniper Rifle's damage with each shot. When using the Pistol you can kill virtually any enemy in the game with just 3 shots, 2 shots to remove their shields and then 1 shot to the head. Since ammo is so plentiful for this weapon and you start with it as your side arm on virtually every level - it deserves its rank as the only God Tier weapon in the game.
The original Pistol in Halo 1 is arguably the best weapon in the entire Halo franchise
S Tier
Shotgun: In the first two Halo games the Shotgun is an amazing weapon that you'll want to use each and every time you fight Flood enemies. Any level where I am fighting the Flood I go out of my way to find and keep ammo for this weapon. Flood get torn to shreds by this weapon and it's a load of fun to use too... Sadly, ever since Halo 1 the Shotgun has been nerfed over and over until the weapon is pretty much not even useful anymore.
Rocket Launcher: Of course the Rocket Launcher itself is an S Tier weapon due to how much damage it deals and how commonly available ammo is for it. Any time you are given this weapon during the Halo Campaign you're typically able to find a ton of ammo around the map which makes it even more useful. Especially on Flood levels when you can run into Flood enemies with Rocket Launchers, ammo on these levels is typically plentiful throughout.
Sniper Rifle: Snipers are very powerful weapons in the Halo franchise since they have the ability to one shot any target if you hit them in the head (even if the target is shielded). Non-headshots will require two hits, one of them will remove the shields from your target and the other hit will kill your target. It doesn't matter where you hit them on their body, it'll always take two hits (unless they have an Overshield). One thing that is nice about Halo 1 too is when you're given a Sniper Rifle there is normally an abundant amount of ammo around too.
Plasma Pistol: The Plasma Pistol is an extremely important gun in the original Halo when you play on higher difficulties because it's the meta way to take out any enemy with a shield. Hit them with a fully charged Plasma Pistol shot and it'll remove their shields, you can then follow up with a shot to the head or an easy kill with a less accurate gun.
A Tier
UNSC Assault Rifle: The UNSC Assault Rifle is the standard issue weapon that you pretty much always spawn and start with on every mission. If I had to pick one reason to recommend this weapon it's because ammo for it is literally everywhere. On pretty much every level there will be hidden areas with stockpiles of ammo; search around the corpses of marines or in out of the way areas.
Plasma Rifle: Plasma Rifles are the Elite version of the Assault Rifle. This weapon deals more damage against shields than it does against flesh and it fires faster the closer it is to overheating. It can be a decent weapon in the right hands but typically I recommend something else.
B Tier
Needler: The Needler is probably the worst weapon in the original Halo and it stays an all around meh weapon throughout the whole series. I think this weapon has two strengths, the first of which is that the needles you fire will track the target to a small extent. Depending on how lucky you are this can result in your needles following your target around a wall as he ducks into cover. The second strength of this weapon is if you hit the target with enough needles to kill it, it'll explode and deal damage to other nearby enemies. Once you get to Halo 2 and can dual wield weapons this gun gets a bit better.
The original UNSC Assault Rifle