Halo: Counter-Assault

UNSC

 * Assault Rifle: The MA5D Individual Combat Weapon System is considered the bread and butter of the UNSCDF's arsenal. It's fully automatic with a medium rate of fire (600 rpm) and a moderate bloom expansion rate, and is also pretty accurate when fired in short controlled bursts. Its accuracy and its hitscan nature makes it useful for up to mid range, but this requires the pacing of your shots. It also comes equipped with an underbarrel grenade launcher attachment, that allows you to fire grenades with extra range and speed, but you cannot cook the grenades like you can when throwing them normally. Overall, its a good jack of all trades weapon for close to mid range players, and an excellent starting weapon for newbies.
 * Battle Rifle: The Battle Rifle is another weapon that's highly regarded as a symbol of the UNSCDF. This weapon fires in precise, hitscan, three round bursts within a tight spread, and has a pretty good damage profile, being able to kill a fully-powered SPARTAN=IV with only four bursts, bleeding through the shields with its last shot. The weapon has less range than other utility rifles, so it's a much better choice for players who like to rush in and get into the face of the action, but still be able to defend themselves well at a good distance. The weapon also exhibits some vertical recoil, although you only really notice this when zoomed in. Overall, despite its shortcomings, it has the fastest kill time of all weapons in its class (sans Light Rifle, but that's only when zoomed in, limiting it to long range only).
 * Marksman Rifle: Better known as the DMR, this weapon is pretty much a hybrid between a conventional service rifle and a full-on sniper. The weapon is primarily known for its laser-like accuracy, hitscan nature, and semi-automatic firing mode, a combination that makes it a complete beast when used in a large-scale battlefield. The weapon's main downside is its reticule bloom, which causes the weapon to be less accurate the faster you keep pulling the trigger. To maintain its highest accuracy, you need to have patience and timing, and also learn to pace your shots. However, once you master this technique, this weapon can be a demigod in an open field, with accuracy akin to a sniper rifle and 3x zoom. It may have a slower kill time than other precision rifles, but it has the also longest range.

Covenant

 * Storm Rifle: The Covenant's answer to the UNSC's Assault Rifle. This weapon is fully automatic with a medium rate of fire (600rpm) and sends out a continuous stream of fast-moving energy bursts with pinpoint accuracy. Overall it serves as a great, longer range alternative to the other automatics. However, this weapon is not hitscan-based, rather it uses projectiles at a swift velocity; this means you will have to lead ahead of your targets around mid range. Also, the weapon tends to overheat pretty quickly, but on the upside however, if you choose to put the weapon away after it overheats, it will continue to cool down even when it's unequipped, which proves to be an advantage over conventional reloading.
 * Carbine: The Carbine is a semi-automatic weapon, serving as the Sangheili's primary choice for mid-to-long range encounters.. Although it also has the lowest damage per shot of its class, the weapon also has an extremely fast rate of fire, essentially firing as fast as you can pull the trigger. This is the weapon's primary strength and more than makes up for any deficiency in raw power, and combined with its fast reload time, you can easily overwhelm the enemy with sheer firepower. Its level of accuracy lies between that of the Battle Rifle and the Marksman Rifle, making it a good candidate for usage at any range, although this makes it a somewhat less specialized than the two aforementioned rifles. Overall, this is a very popular weapon on the battlefield, so don't knock it till you try it.

Promethean

 * Suppressor: The Suppressor is the standard Promethean automatic weapon. It's basically designed around the spray n' pray mentality and is used like an SMG. The weapon's most notable distinction is that it has an accelerating rate of fire, meaning its firing speed will ramp up the longer you hold down the trigger. Its firing rate starts out a bit mediocre, but after a brief period, it will eventually crank up to extreme levels, spraying out a wall of hardlight like it's nobody's business. The weapon also has a very wide spread, which may limit its range, but it makes it a very good weapon for ambushing and completely blind-firing a target with sheer firepower. It also has a pretty hefty magazine size of 60 hardlight rounds, with a swift reload time. However, the weapon's range is limited to very close quarters.
 * Light Rifle: The Light Rifle is a select-fire, long-range, utility rifle that's standard issue to the mass majority of Promethean Knights. Unlike the other weapons of its class, including the BR, DMR, and Carbine, this weapon is solely projectile-based, meaning you'll have to lead ahead of your targets in order to reach your massive combat potential. The weapon has two different firing modes; when you're shooting from the hip, it'll fire in three round bursts within medium spread, and when you're zoomed in, you'll be sending out more precise, concentrated single shots. The weapon is overall much more powerful with its zoomed-in firing mode, and isn't as useful at close ranges when firing from the hip, leading it to be classified as more of a long range weapon.