Fuel Rod Gun

Introduction

In Halo: PC multiplayer, it had no fail-safes, allowing the player to pick up the weapon. All of the incarnations of this weapon fire bolts of deadly radioactive incendiary gel that detonate on impact with targets or surfaces, and some variants are equipped with homing rounds. Not unlike many Covenant weapons, the early incarnations of the Fuel Rod Gun had a battery charge. Up to 28 additional Fuel Rods can be fired with 100 battery units. The weapon's projectiles arc due to gravity and it functions like a mortar, unlike the human Rocket Launcher, so one must aim above the target to effectively use the weapon in long range firing.

In Halo 2 and Halo 3 it had a clip of 5 fuel rods instead of a battery. The projectiles had a much lesser arch and the projectiles traveled considerably slower and the weapon couldn't overheat.

Appearances

In Halo: Combat Evolved, the Fuel Rod Gun is purple with a gray muzzle. It sports a green energy/ammunition meter on its side as well as a purplish core temperature meter. It is used solely by Grunts in the campaign, however, only Special Operations Grunts and Major Grunts are seen with the deadly weapons (minor grunts may occasionally wield it). It was impossible to pick up discarded Fuel Rod Guns from enemy corpses in the Halo: Combat Evolved campaign, as there were fail-safes that made the weapons self-destruct with the force, appearance, and effects of fired bolts. These fail-safes were stripped away in Halo PC multiplayer.

In Halo 2, the Fuel Rod Gun had been given a major appearance change, with the body now a shade of yellow and the battery replaced by clips of 5. This powerful weapon is mostly found on the level The Arbiter, where the Heretic Grunts make extensive use of the weapon. Outside of this level, it is very hard to find, although higher ranked Elites and Grunts will use this weapon against you to great effect. The Fuel Rod Gun is not available in Halo 2 Multiplayer due to frame-rate issues.

In Halo 3, the Fuel Rod Gun underwent drastic changes. The blasts are weakened to 65% of their previous strength, to compensate for the cannon's large number of rounds per clip, fast rate of fire, and the noticeably lessened distance that the rounds fall en route to the target. Also, when fired, projectiles are affected by gravity at a much higher degree and now need time to ignite after being fired from the cannon and failure to give the rounds proper distance to accomplish this will result in a ricochet if a non-enemy surface is struck at an angle. In Halo 3 it has a slight homing feature on vehicles and is devastating when used against slow moving tanks. In campaign, if given to an AI controlled ally they will also get the bonus of the weapon's rounds homing in on enemy foot soldiers. Shots from an enemy's Fuel Rod Gun will home on you and your allies to a degree. It becomes increasingly difficult to dodge in higher difficulties. It can still get you if you only try to step to the side. It was wielded by Grunts, War Chieftains and Brute Captains (Majors and Ultras only) in Campaign.

It is also worth noting that the weapon does not appear by default in any multiplayer maps nor in Matchmaking, and thus is only seen if placed on a custom map by using Forge.

In Halo Wars, the Fuel Rod Gun makes almost no appearance. It is, however, available as an upgrade to replace the Prophet of Regret's plasma cannons to increase his damage. Two can also be added to Covenant Turrets as an anti-vehicle add on.

Usage

The Fuel Rod Gun is the Covenant counterpart of the M19 SSM Rocket Launcher. It is mainly used as an anti-vehicle weapon, but is sometimes used as an anti-personnel weapon. It fires glowing green bolts of radioactive incendiary gel that travel to the target in a parabolic arc. This indirect line of fire makes the Fuel Rod Gun often a difficult weapon to wield, yet can be useful if your target is hiding behind a wall or other object. The bolt is also ponderously slow compared to the Spartan Laser shot and even to the Rocket, making it rather difficult to wield effectively in comparison to more readily available power weapons.

In the PC version the Fuel Rod Gun is arguably the most powerful weapon in the game. It runs as another battery operated weapon and overheats for a while after five quick shots. Indirect hits will remove between half and a fourth of a enemy's total health, and direct hits will destroy over two thirds of the total health. It also has the ability to stun a hit target, as long as the victim was hit by the explosion, he will only be able to move and look around at a 33% speed for 3 seconds. Also a variant, the Fuel Rod Cannon is used as a secondary weapon on Banshees, that are commonly called Banshee Bombs. The Fuel Rod Cannon is also used in the AA rounds on an Anti-Air Wraith. In Halo 2 and Halo 3, the Fuel Rod Gun was widely changed. The weapon is gold in color, and can be reloaded. The overheat feature has also been removed. The Fuel Rod Gun's projectiles now arc less, and track slightly over long ranges, but are also significantly slower in speed.