Hello. I wanted to offer my thoughts on each gun in Halo Infinite, from both a general strategic standpoint as well as a tactical how-to-shoot standpoint. Hopefully this helps.
STARTERS
Assault Rifle: The AR is more powerful and versatile than ever. It is a highly effective starting weapon that can get the job done in almost any situation. When firing, hold down the trigger and try to keep as much of your target in the reticule as possible to maximize hit probability. Pump the trigger at some point to reset the bloom then finish the kill.
Sidekick: A good backup weapon to the AR, the sidekick is much less consistent and reliable but does have more spikey DPS potential. Use it when you are at a disadvantage, such as someone pushing you when you are low shields, dumping a clip of sidekick on them can give you a fighting chance where as the AR simply couldn’t deal damage fast enough. Also preferable to the AR for duck-and-cover engagements where poping a bunch of shots then getting cover is preferable to AR bursts.
Tier 1 weapons: These weapons begin respawning immediately after being taken, potentially populating the Battlefield with multiple copies.
RACK SMGs
Sentinel Beam: Does have slightly better DPS potential than the AR if you can hold the beam on target, but that is highly unreliable. The problem is the strong upwards drag when firing. Compensate by holding down on the right thumb stick. Not recommended unless you are a consistent 3 star shooter at the academy with it. If you are, then swap it for your AR when you find it.
Pulse Carbine: the pulse carbine is an unusual gun in that it is only effective when scoped in, because that is when the homing feature kicks in. Swap it for your sidekick, and when you spot a target outside of effective AR range, use the pulse carbine while scoped to deal serious damage.
Needler: the needler continues to fill its classic role as an ambush gun. If your target is unaware you are flinging needles at them and they hone in, they are toast. If they are aware and are strafing and jumping out of the way, it’s usefulness plummets. Swap it for you sidekick and use it for ambushes, otherwise use your AR.
RACK PISTOLS
Mangler: An excellent weapon. Kills in 4 shots, or 2+ a headshot, as well as 1 shot and a melee. Assuming you are a decent shot, it is an upgrade to the AR or Sidekick in most respects. Practice this gun at the academy until you are, and note where it is on pistol racks early in the match while using it whenever possible.
Plasma pistol: So the PP doesn’t shut down vehicles anymore in case you didn’t know, so its only purpose is noob combos with the sidekick. If you want to go for that for a life, sure why not. It can work well. Toss your AR aside for it. In general with noob combos, position yourself where you can retreat to cover in the event you miss if possible.
Disruptor: Not the greatest gun, its only real purpose is shutting down vehicles with shock damage. Swap it for your sidekick on maps with vehicles so you have that defense. In a pinch it can perform a role similar to the AR but beware the lackluster 10 round clip- DONT MISS.
RACK RIFLES
Battle Rifle: an excellent medium-long ranged rifle that complements the ARs short range game perfectly. Note which rifle racks are spawning BRs and try to obtain them when possible. Aim for the chest when firing and let the upwards recoil do the work giving you a headshot after a few bursts.
Commando: The dud spawn on the rifle rack, compared to the BR. The absurd kick and lackluster damage makes this gun only marginally better than the sidekick. It gives you a little longer ranged utility when paired with the AR, but not worth going out of your way for.
Tier 2 weapons: These weapons only begin respawning when the user has ran out of ammo or the weapon was dropped and timed out, meaning there can only be one on the battlefield at a time.
RACK SHOTGUNS
Bulldog: A good all around CQB weapon, it is worth swapping for your AR. Typically kills in 3 shots, but a single shot then melee will also kill.
Heatwave: although less versatile than the Bulldog, it does have the advantage of being a 2 shot kill if you can connect all the pellets. the horizontal fire mode is more likely to hit, but the vertical mode has more damage potential. You can also bounce pellets. Swap for AR.
RACK SNIPERS
Stalker rifle: kills in 4 shots, or 2 then a headshot. It is a lot like the light rifle use to be, scoped in. Count your shots too, 7 overheats it. Swap for your sidekick for some long ranged firepower.
Shock rifle: kills in 3 shots, but a single headshot does kill. This is what you should be going for. Treat it like the old beam rifle. Go for no scope headshots up to medium range and scope for a headshot at long range. Also shuts down vehicles. If you can shut a vehicle down then shoot the driver in the head, that is a good play.
RACK LAUNCHERS
Ravager: Launcher that you can swap for your AR and use close quarters. Use the overcharge shot like you would a rocket launcher, however don’t expect it to kill outright quickly swap to sidekick to mop them up. Otherwise use it at ARish ranges, three regular volleys will kill. Highly recommend you run academy drills before using to get good at aiming.
Hydra: swap it out for your sidekick. The homing feature is useful to identify targets as much as actually shoot them, which you should only bother doing if they are not near to cover/paying attention. The unguided shots are nice for peppering vehicles and close range targets.
I’m going to stop there seeing as this is already a giant wall of text. The power weapons are fairly self explanatory. I’ll briefly mention the 2 new ones: the skewer is basically a 1 shot Binary Rifle that is also highly effective against vehicles, while the cindershot is basically the plasma caster without the overcharge feature but somewhat more powerful. Sniper, rockets, sword and gravity hammer are largely the same, although the gravity hammer has been buffed by receiving a shockwave effect.
Anyways… whew that was a lot. I hope you found some useful tips in there! Please feel free to leave some of your own, I would like to hear your opinion. Thanks.