Has anyone noticed that when the unsc develope or use energy weapons in any shape or form its usually laser weapons. There are a few exceptions such as the plasma spears released by certain nukes (casaba-howitzers) and the plasma cannons on the rhino tank and perhaps a couple of others. I wonder why this why they dont use other energy weapons like particle beam weapons or the like more often. I think even the weapons the anlace frigate would be laser based. Probably pulse lasers and solid state laser technology in my opinion
I think this may be a more artistic choice than anything else, the humans are supposed to be less advanced so it makes sense that they use more primitive weapons. It kinda blurs the lines when both factions use plasma based weaponry. Not to mention lasers are a lot easier to get their hands on than plasma, whenever there is plasma based weaponry in the UNSC it is usually rare/ expensive.
Probably to differentiate the humans from other races honestly
In universe speaking I’d assume making projectile weapons would be cheaper than making more advanced plasma and energy based weapons. And easier to mass produce in short periods of time which was a pretty important feature considering the state of the galaxy halo is usually in.
I am not talking about projectile based weapons of the unsc Im talking about SPECIFICALLY why when they do make use of energy weapons aside from a few exceptions they are USUALLY laser weapons. I was curious why they use far more laser based weapons then developing plasma or particle beam weapons. Not discussing UNSC projectile weapons here please just thought i would clarify that. I know why they prefer projectile based weapons they are much cheaper to produce and easier to develope i know that but this is SPECIFICALLY ABOUT UNSC ENERGY WEAPONS.
The limited use of energy weapons more or less boils down to what they could achieve based on their limited understanding of Covenant weaponry. It’s limited to large vehicle-based systems because the technology just isn’t there to miniaturize it based on what the UNSC does understand. It’s also not like the Sangheli can help due to how the Covenant handled technology, it’s unlikely they even know how their weapons worked.
Lasers are more common due to the fact that we already understand how to build powerful lasers in real life, they’re just too big to be man-portable. They likely don’t see much use in space combat due to the fact that any laser powerful enough to do the job would generate too much waste heat to be practical and would be less efficient than a simple high-velocity slug.
the UNSC does have hybrid cvonant weapons but lasers and plasma is mutch harder to generate and manufacturing a spartan laser is the same price as 40,000 frag gernades
Energy based weapons are not cost effective for the UNSC. You have to think about the logistics. It’s better to have an abundance of completely adequate weapons that is good enough for the job. Than a handful of really powerful weapons. It’s also important to remember that all weapons need to be properly maintained, and I doubt that the ordinary soldier knows how to disassemble and reassemble a Spartan Laser for example. Specialized weapons require specialized training. Hence, why the UNSC only give their best toys to their special forces such as the ODSTs and the Spartans. Whose expertise will make use of the extra firepower, something that is not guaranteed in the hands of an ordinary soldier.
Honestly I’d love to see some possible jury-rigged Covenant weapons salvaged from all the ones left behind after the Human-Covenant war, would be a fun take on old ideas with a new twist added!
As said above by a few folks, there are a couple reasons. From a style choice by the developer, keeping human weaponry and Covenant weaponry distinct is easier for differentiating them in a game for the player. The sandbox just becomes watered down if all the weapons are plasma based. For an in-universe explanation, it’s been said a few times in the lore, but reproducing Covenant plasma technology is incredibly expensive. The UNSC can more easily mass produce kinetic weapons that have been perfected over the course of most of humanity’s recorded history than start from scratch with an entirely new technology. They’ve experimented with lasers and other limited plasma-based weapons for the sake of R&D, but for mass-production battle equipment, it makes sense for the UNSC to focus on what they know best. At least until ONI and all the other private companies work out the kinks.
For me personally though, it’s interesting to see how the Covenant have better tech, but that’s only because they did their best to copy Forerunner tech. Seemingly most of their advanced technology wasn’t developed on their own. Humanity on the other hand has a competitive edge because they invented and continued to develop their own tech as opposed to bolting on new stuff they know little about. The Infinity is covered in Forerunner tech, but it has proved unreliable in many cases because it’s unknown technology. So instead of just bolting on new stuff, I would imagine the UNSC would prefer to keep things simple and human-based for the most part.