Anskum-pattern plasma grenade
From Halopedia, the Halo wiki
Template:Ratings Template:Weapon The Type-1 Antipersonnel Grenade[1] also called (plasma grenade) is a Covenant grenade issued to their infantry forces.
Overview
The plasma grenade is a specially designed grenade that sticks to its targets. Once it hits a target, the plasma grenade will immediately bond to it, and beep to tell you that it has stuck, making any removal impossible. The bonding mechanism holds its attraction, except to seemingly static objects, such as walls, until detonation, making it impossible to avoid its deadly explosion. Therefore, if you have been "stuck", it is a good idea to take out as many opponents around you to reclaim points. Although it will bond to any target it hits, if it attaches to a piece of armour or a weapon, removing said articles will allow one to distance themselves from the explosion. Once the plasma grenade has adhered to the target, it kills instantly. All one can do is to try and get as close to an enemy as possible, with the hope of killing them or at least damage them, thus leaving them vulnerable to any attack from another hostile. Although the plasma grenades can stick to the enemies or friendlies, in Halo: Combat Evolved, it can be seen clearly that the Frag Grenade is much more powerful, but due to the enemy or friendly being stuck the explosion is close range thus the enemy being stuck has a higher chance of dying. It can easily be identified by its blue glow.
The "sticking" mechanism is complex enough to allow the plasma grenade the ability to distinguish between targets and inanimate objects( the technology behind this is unknown, although it is thought to be vaguely Forerunner). For example, it will stick to a soldier or a vehicle, but not a tree or a wall etc. This does not, however, allow the grenade to act selectively. The plasma grenade will not distinguish between friend or foe so accuracy and caution is strongly advised when throwing it, so as not to betray your allies.
The plasma grenade possesses a timer. It has a three-second fuse that counts down at the point of activation. A manual activation via a small button or a stimulated activation, such as another explosion or gunfire, will set the detonator and start the countdown. Delayed activation can also set the detonator after it either sticks to a target or otherwise comes to a rest. It is possible to tell if the grenade has been activated. A densely small and bright cloud of plasma emission will leak around the grenade as the explosive reaction takes place inside. This cloud will gradually grow to a larger diameter after each second of the countdown. A low sound is emitted by the grenade when activated, followed by two rapid beeps and a high-pitched whine just seconds before the explosion. This is the plasma grenade's standard process of detonation.
The Plasma Grenade appears to have two settings: the standard three-second fuse and a delayed manual detonation. The latter is seen in Halo 3 by suicidal Grunts hoping to ensure their enemy's death by exploding right next to them. In addition, the Plasma Grenade can be destroyed by being shot (Easily seen with the Sentinel Beam).
Also, some characters in campaign cannot be stuck. Brute Chieftains have immunity from this until their armor is knocked off. However, their weapon can still be stuck, and if the Brute's shield is broken (i.e in Halo 2, Tartarus can be stuck if his shield is broken), you can still stick them.
Advantages
Sticking an enemy with the plasma grenade will always result in instant death (except for a Hunter which usually takes two to three to kill). Also, except when (in Oddball, or Juggernaut) the player is stuck and the option "Ball Carrier has extra life" is chosen (in Halo: CE), even a fully shielded Spartan or Elite (except on higher difficulty levels) cannot withstand a stuck plasma grenade, but in this situation the ball carrier will only have 1 bar of health. In Halo 3, high ranking Brutes on the harder difficulties can withstand a player's grenade with Mythic (death skull). Also, higher ranking Grunts on Easy, can withstand grenades thrown by their Grunt brethren if it sticks to them with Mythic. In Halo: CE, Grunts will sometimes run for surrounding Elites when stuck, pleading him to remove it. This results in both the Grunt, the Elite and the Elite's remaining team, if any, being killed. On campaign in Halo 3, you can take the advantage that the arbiter has 2x the endurance and can survive 2x the damage compared to you. You can stick him with a plasma grenade(recommended) and then he will charge at the enemy, burning everything within a 4 meter radius(without cowbell Skull).
Disadvantages
The plasma grenade's bright blue glow and longer delay fuse allows enemies to easily detect and avoid it. It cannot be used around corners, as its bounce is negligible, and it does not roll. A player wearing a fully charged Overshield may be capable of surviving the blast even when stuck. Also, if a smart enemy is stuck when they are too close they can simply run toward you to catch you in the blast zone. In Halo 2 and Halo 3, a primed plasma grenade in flight can be detonated mid-air by another explosion. Weapons capable of this include the Rocket Launcher, Brute Shot, Missile Pod, Frag Grenades, other Plasma Grenades. The Plasma Grenade will not stick to certain types of armour such as that of a Scarab or a Brute Chieftain's. When thrown at them, the grenade will bounce and fall at their feet, and they will probably notice it and move out of the blast radius. Ballistic or explosive weapons such as a Shotgun or Brute Shot will remove the plating allowing the grenade to stick. If someone throws a plasma grenade and it hits the wall, it can bounce off the wall back down and adhere to the thrower. Also, if the opponent notices you, he/she will probably take immediate evasive action. As you will probably miss if they dodge, they will be relatively unaffected due to the tiny blast radius. In multiplayer, if an enemy is hiding in a bubble shield, you may run into the bubble slightly enough to throw a Plasma Grenade in and trap the helpless player. This tactic is risky because of the fact that if you run back out too quickly you may end up releasing the grenade on the outside of the Bubble Shield, thus bouncing it off of the shield and causing it to land back on your face resulting in an extremely embarrassing suicide. Also, in Halo CE, if you throw ANY grenade, it will detonate other grenades in the blast radius that can result in your death, or a lot of casualties.
Effects on Health
It has been shown that prolonged exposure to the radiation emitted by plasma grenades, without proper protection, can cause a deviation in the neural electric pathways of the user, a disorder called Boren's Syndrome. This disease can be fatal if the person does not get treatment. Sergeant Avery Johnson is the only known living person to have Boren's Syndrome. This explains why he was immune to infection by the Flood during the attack on his team on Installation 04 while trying to extract a weapons cache. The reason for this is because the flood cannot copy the organisms nerve endings because they are "messed up" (as said by Master Chief in Halo First Strike), so the host never gets infected, although it can still be killed by one because of attack. Boren's Syndrome is not simply immunity to the flood, it is known to cause mental instability as well as other things, making it impossible as a weapon of self defense against the flood parasite (except in the case of Staff Sergeant Avery Johnson who, for unknown reasons, seems to be immune to the side-effects).
Theory about "Stickiness"
Note: The following is speculation and theory: The plasma grenade may stick by producing a thin layer of plasma which, when in contact with a target, fuses to the target. The reason the plasma grenade sticks to vehicles and characters may be due to an ability to sense body heat and the heat from vehicles' engines. Since a "dead" wall doesn't emit heat, it will, however, stick to the "living" walls of a Flood Hive. One problem with this theory is that it will stick even to exposed skin (on Grunts, Jackals, or Marines as an example) even though there is no metal to fuse to - it would be nearly impossible to fuse the grenade to flesh using heat alone.
Another theory is that when the grenade is thrown it will be covered by a thick layer of extremely hot plasma that when stuck to anything, will burn into the object and then explode.
It is also theorized that there is a complex internal mechanism built into the grenade that gives it this characteristic. A gravity generator may be built into the core of the device, giving it its own force of attraction. This artificial force of attraction is highly concentrated, which is exactly why the grenade is impossible to remove.
An interesting thing to note is the fact that when a plasma grenade is primed, it does not stick to the thrower. A theory for this could be that the grenade must be primed touching something emitting heat, and then leaving the heat-emitting object, thus activating its "stickiness", and finally landing and sticking to another heat-emitting object (i.e. the target). This is even better proven by the fact that it will stick to the person who threw it if it bounces back at them (such as hitting a wall).
It's possible that the grenade has an adhesive activated by a timer. Once the grenade is activated, this timer is initiated, giving a few seconds for the thrower to release the grenade. Once the timer has run out, the adhesive activates and the surface of the grenade is made as sticky as glue by the activation of the adhesive, although this theory doesn't explain the environment/character principles of the grenade.
Another theory is that the Plasma Grenade has a energy shield hybrid shell to bounce off of walls and an internal magnet to pull it to vehicles and armour.
Yet another theory states that the Plasma Grenade detects low-level and medium level electrical pulses that are in living things and that are in shield and vehicle technology. Jackal Gauntlet Defense systems emit a high rate of energy, enough to repel Human Projectiles, while the MJOLNIR Armour, Elite Combat Harness, and Brute Combat Harness all are damaged by projectiles. This could mean that the Plasma grenade cannot stick to a device emitting high level electrical pulses, such as the ones that are in Jackal Gauntlets, but has sufficient energy to stick to low to medium power energy shields as well as vehicles. This would also explain why Brute Chieftains cannot be stuck, as their armour has extremely powerful energy shielding, albeit the fact that it can still be damaged by human projectiles.
Another theory is that the grenade has a small A.I. that can allow it to understand what and what not to stick to. This would allow it to stick to any kind of flesh material and also let it to stick to the walls of the level Cortana. This would also allow it to stick to vehicles.
Trivia
- If a Grunt is stuck they will usually run into their comrades trying to get it off but if you stick an Elite or a Brute they will either charge you or take cover. Occasionally in Halo: Combat Evolved, they'll also yell "Not Again!" which could mean they could have survived an explosion from a plasma grenade before, although it is almost impossible to believe this.
- To the frustration of many players, sticking a vehicle will not always destroy it and the passengers inside. Many "sticks" have been documented in which the vehicle was stuck but the passengers were not killed, merely damaged.
- It has actually been known for people to somehow "remove the sticky" and throw it back but on closer inspection you will notice that it only works if you stick their hand, then they throw a grenade.
- The Forerunner symbol engraved on the Plasma Grenade was changed in every game of the Halo trilogy.
- If a player's weapon is stuck with a plasma grenade, it is possible to pick up another weapon, thereby dropping the "stuck" weapon, and live. The Plasma Grenade will stay on the dropped weapon and still explode, though not be considered a stick. Switching for your secondary weapon won't help.
- In Bungie's forum, it is stated that when you ignite the plasma grenade, the blue gas is believe to be between 60 to 75 degress hot.Template:Fact
- In Halo: CE, plasma grenade damage, like a Needler detonation and plasma pistol overcharge, is classified as an EMP (electromagnetic pulse) and instantly drops all shields, even a full Overshield. The same held for grenades that were dropped. This was removed in Halo 2 and 3 (except for the plasma pistol overcharge), making it less effective against infantry.
- In Halo 2, when the Covenant use plasma grenades in battle, they will shout phrases as they throw them, such as "cleansing flame", "holy flare" and "holy light". On rare occasions, they will still shout "Demon flare!" even if it is thrown by an ally.
- Occasionally, if two plasma grenades are thrown in succession at the same spot; one will detonate, launching the other far into the air. The airborne grenade will explode in mid-air. This is easiest to perform in Halo: Combat Evolved.
- It is also noted that the Plasma Grenades from Halo:CE seem to be meant for taking out masses of targets based on the Plasma Grenade's rather large area of effect. While its successors seem to be meant for taking out closer masses of targets or individual, larger targets based on their smaller but deadlier Area of Effect.
- Like all grenades, it can be shot and detonated by a weapon. A Battle Rifle works best.
- According to the Halo 3 game manual, the Plasma Grenade has the second highest kill and casualty radius (4m and 12m respectively) of all the grenades in the game.
- In a forge game if you get stuck turing into monitor mode will cause the grenade to not detonate. But if you turn back into a elite/spartan the grenade will explode.
- In Halo 3 if you throw a plasma at the right spot on the pelicans cockpit it will stick the driver kill him and the pelican will fall below the map.
