CE:Needler
From Halopedia, the Halo wiki
| Needler | |
|---|---|
  The Needlers in Halo: Combat Evolved (top) and Anniversary (bottom). | |
| Gameplay role | |
|
Faction: |
|
|
Firing mode: |
Automatic |
|
Effective range: |
Close to medium |
|
Counterparts: |
|
| Gameplay stats | |
|
Damage: |
Detonation: 10 (attached only) |
|
Splash damage: |
Supercombine: 60 out to 0.5 wu, down to 40 at 1 wu (radius) |
|
Projectile effects: |
Tracking, Attaches to units, Detonates 0.75s after coming to rest, Supercombines (7 projectiles), EMP |
|
Projectile speed: |
SP: 4 wu/s MP: 5 wu/s |
|
SP: ~0.133 wu | |
|
SP: 20 wu | |
|
Rate of fire: |
3 to 10 rounds per second |
|
4 degrees | |
|
Magazine size: |
20 rounds |
|
Reserve ammo capacity: |
80 rounds (4 magazines) |
|
6 degrees out to 25 wu | |
|
12 degrees out to 25 wu | |
|
| |
The Needler is a weapon featured in Halo: Combat Evolved and its remaster, Combat Evolved Anniversary. It is one of the most unique weapons in the game, and has since gone on to appear in all subsequent games in the series.
Information on the Needler found in Halo: Campaign Evolved can be found here.
Universe and lore[edit]
- Main article: Needler
In the original Combat Evolved, the Needler featured is the Type-33 needler, a weapon used by the infantry of the Covenant.
In Anniversary, the weapon's model was replaced with that of the Nahle'hax-pattern needler from Halo: Reach,[3] though in-game materials (the Library) still refer to it with the original Type-33 designation.
Gameplay[edit]
Counterparts[edit]
Campaign[edit]
.png)
.png)
The Needler is one of three useable Covenant weapons found throughout the campaign of Halo. It may be used by Elites, Grunts, and Jackals. It is one of the most unique weapons in the game for its primary mechanic: the needles that it fires track enemy targets. When seven or more needles impale a given enemy, the enemy will explode in a supercombine, usually killing them. Supercombines function similarly to grenades and can deal damage to the player if they're close to the enemy they're firing at; likewise, the supercombine can result in the detonation of nearby grenades. This effect, along with all other explosives, is amplified by the Boom skull.
Needles can impact soft targets whether they're dead or alive, as well as environmental geometry, the latter will result in no supercombine or harm to the player.[4][5][6] Additionally, they will bounce off of the shields of Jackals and Hunters , ricocheting in random directions. Despite this, Hunter armor is susceptible to the Needler, and chaining supercombines on them is possible.
If needles lodge into a target but do not cause a supercombine, after a few seconds the individual needles will explode, dealing minor health damage to the victim. This can be deadly on Legendary difficulty, as even once the player has found cover during a firefight they may still be killed by the small detonations of the needles that have already hit them.
Multiplayer[edit]
This section is a stub. You can help Halopedia by expanding it.
Damage Modifiers[edit]
detonation damage
| dirt | sand | stone | snow | wood | metal (hollow) | metal (thin) | metal (thick) | rubber | glass | force field | grunt | hunter armor | hunter skin | elite | jackal | jackal energy shield | engineer | engineer force field | flood combat form | flood carrier form | cyborg | cyborg energy shield | armored human | human | sentinel | monitor | plastic | water | leaves | elite energy shield | ice | hunter shield |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.25 | 0.25 | 0.25 | 0.25 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0.6 | 0 | 1.2 | 1.2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
explosion
| dirt | sand | stone | snow | wood | metal (hollow) | metal (thin) | metal (thick) | rubber | glass | force field | grunt | hunter armor | hunter skin | elite | jackal | jackal energy shield | engineer | engineer force field | flood combat form | flood carrier form | cyborg | cyborg energy shield | armored human | human | sentinel | monitor | plastic | water | leaves | elite energy shield | ice | hunter shield |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0.2 | 0.5 | 1 | 1 | 1.5 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 0 |
Skins[edit]
In the Combat Evolved component of Halo: The Master Chief Collection, there are a number of weapon skins available for the Needler, all of which launched during Series 2: Spark in July of 2020.
| Needler | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Icon | Name | Description | Unlock requirements | |||
| Default | Default skin. | Unlocked by default | ||||
 |
Brutal | A Jiralhanae's best friend. | Series 2, Tier 16 ( 1)
| |||
 |
Zealot | Glory in an honorable death. | Series 2, Tier 25 ( 1)
| |||
 |
Schism | For those seeking redemption. | Series 2, Tier 34 ( 1)
| |||
 |
Ultra | The Evocati don't mess around. | Series 2, Tier 55 ( 1)
| |||
Production notes[edit]
- This section is a stub. You can help Halopedia by expanding it.
The Needler was concepted by Bungie concept artist Shi Kai Wang, who had previously done the designs for the Elites, Grunts, and Plasma Rifle, and later did many more key Covenant designs.[7] The design inspiration came from an early concept for the Plasma Rifle, which had multiple "fins" on the back which were intended to be used as reloadable magazine components. While this feature was cut from the Plasma Rifle, it provided inspiration to give the Covenant more weapons with design features that broke up the otherwise-smooth silhouettes.[8][9] While he did note cite a specific visual inspiration for the design, Shiek did note that if there was a subconscious inspiration for the weapon it would likely be a blowfish or porcupine, noting that he had a dried-out blowfish in his house as a child.[10] The sketches provided inspiration for the weapon's spikes to be visible ammunition, though the question of how the weapon functions was left up to rule-of-cool.[11] The pink colouration was decided to help the weapon remain distinct to the drab earth tones of the human weapons.[12] The final model was made by Robert McLees, with Shiek providing the visual effects for the firing.[13]
The weapon's in-game functionality is descended from a cut spear gun. The spear gun was notable as the technology developed to allow its projectiles to stick in the surface they were fired at was reused for the Covenant Needler.[12] The supercombine functionality was designed and implemented by designer Jaime Griesemer,[13] replacing the original design intent for the needles to overpenetrate through the enemies they were shot at.[14]
The weapon's name was derived from the "needler", which was the tag name for the cut chaingun shown off at the time of the game's announcement.
Gallery[edit]
Prerelease Halo[edit]
C.1999 concept art for the Grunts, with the top two designs appearing to wield a weapon akin to the Needler in their right hand. These designs appear to have needles sticking out both the top and bottom of the weapon.
Concept art of the Needler, c.2000, more clearly showing the early symmetrical design.
Concept sketch variations for the Needler, c.2000.
A Sangheili Minor wielding a Needler in an early build.
A player wielding the E3 2000 iteration of the weapon.
A player wielding the near-final model for the weapon, from the 2001 Beta build.
Halo: Combat Evolved[edit]
First-person view of the Needler in an early build.
First-person view of the Needler.
A SpecOps Elite wielding the Needler.
A Grunt wielding a Needler.
A Grunt Major wielding a Needler.
Captain Keyes wielding a Needler.
Needlers and their ammo.
John-117 wielding a Needler.
The Needler being used in multiplayer.
Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary[edit]
The Needler in Anniversary.
The Needler in the Library codex.
Pre-release image of the needler in first-person view.
A first-person view of the needler.
Halo: The Master Chief Collection[edit]
- Classic graphics
The Needler in use on Halo.
The Needler's melee in action, revealing the underside of the weapon.
The result of the Needler's supercombine, with an empty needler.
The Needler in use on The Silent Cartographer.
The Needler being inspected by the player.
The result of the Needler's supercombine, featuring a fully reloaded needler.
_on_Halo.png)
_on_Halo.png)
_on_Halo.png)
_on_The_Silent_Cartographer.png)
_on_The_Silent_Cartographer.png)
_on_The_Silent_Cartographer.png)
- Anniversary graphics
The Needler in use on The Truth and Reconciliation.
The Needler's melee in action, revealing the underside of the weapon.
The result of the Needler's supercombine.
_on_Truth_and_Recon.png)
_on_Truth_and_Recon.png)
_on_Truth_and_Recon.png)
Sources[edit]
- ^ Halo: Combat Evolved Editing Kit, game file
tags\weapons\needler\needler.weapon - ^ Halo: Combat Evolved Editing Kit, game file
tags\weapons\needler\mp_needler.weapon - ^ Halo Encyclopedia (2022 edition), page 294
- ^ Halo: Combat Evolved manual, page 21
- ^ Halo: Combat Evolved: Sybex Official Strategies & Secrets, page 28-29
- ^ Bungie.net, Guides: Covenant Weapons (Retrieved on Oct 28, 2004) [archive]
- ^ Twitter, Shiek Wang 王峙凱 (@shiekthegeek): "At this time of Halo CE development, sort of got handed anything that was halo covenant related, having now done the grunt, multiple iterations of the elite and the plasma rifle.
Give the non-traditional alien weapons to that new Asian kid :)" (Retrieved on Jan 26, 2021) [archive] - ^ Twitter, Shiek Wang 王峙凱 (@shiekthegeek): "The initial intent was to make those as ammo that needs to be plugged in to shoot. That proved too hard to figure out in animation and visible in fp, so that idea got reduced to just detail back fins.
BUT! served as the ground for the needler :) which I'll talk about next" (Retrieved on Jan 20, 2021) [archive] - ^ Twitter, Shiek Wang 王峙凱 (@shiekthegeek): "As stated earlier on the plasma rifle post, the back ends of the plasma rifle seeded the idea of more covenant weapons with details that broke the silhouette of the weapon. Because it was already seeded, the animalistic inspiration was more subconscious than direct." (Retrieved on Jan 26, 2021) [archive]
- ^ Twitter, Shiek Wang 王峙凱 (@shiekthegeek): "If pressed for an animal, I would probably say subconsciously it was either the blowfish or the porcupine. I had a dried blown up blowfish hanging in my house growing up, so I'm sure that's how it got in my brain." (Retrieved on Jan 26, 2021) [archive]
- ^ Twitter, Shiek Wang 王峙凱 (@shiekthegeek): "I thought it would be fun to see your alien ammo directly instead of numbers. The needles thus acted as counters.
So how does blamite crystals shard up when you reload it? Answer to that, is video games :) It's more visible to see a big ammo pickup than tiny shards." (Retrieved on Jan 26, 2021) [archive] - ^ a b Twitter, Shiek Wang 王峙凱 (@shiekthegeek): "Remember the old spear gun prototype demo? Then you know we already had the tech to stick projectiles into physics objects. So it only made sense for the needler's projectile to stick in to your enemies.
Pink color was to stay complementary to UNSC colors to stand out." (Retrieved on Jan 26, 2021) [archive] - ^ a b Twitter, Shiek Wang 王峙凱 (@shiekthegeek): "The final model for CE was done by the great Robt McLees, @mehvechan can attest. I helped with the VFX on the projectiles and shader tweaks.
Needles grouping and exploding? That was @32nds Jaime Griesemer's design idea I believe. I just made it go kabloowie in pink." (Retrieved on Jan 26, 2021) [archive] - ^ Twitter, Shiek Wang 王峙凱 (@shiekthegeek): "The plasma rifle and needler. Plasma rifle was concepted to shoot from top and bottom of barrel which worked out in game. And the needler shooting out needles that stuck rather than go through." (Retrieved on Jan 26, 2021) [archive]
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
