Klavrig Workshop Skitterer

Klavrig Workshop Support Crawler
Production information
Manufacturer:	Klavrig Workshop Armory of Gethrog
Technical specifications
Length:	21.8 meters (71.5 ft)
Width:	22.2 meters (72.9 ft)
Height:	12.6 meters (41.4 ft)
Mass:	58.4 metric tons (57.5 LT; 64.4 ST)
Armament:	Twin-linked beam cannons
Crew:	Dipholekgolo colony
Usage
Role(s):	Scout walker Escort
Affiliation:	Covenant Banished

"These small mechanical units are considered “little brothers” of the Locust and what they lack in toughness they more than make up for in sheer numbers and symbiotic impact."

— Brian Jarrard on Skitterers.

The Klavrig Workshop Support Crawler, colloquially known as the Skitterer, is a fast scout walker used by the Banished.

Overview

Design details

Skitterers are quadrupeds outfitted with small rocket boosters and a set of twin-linked beam cannons. While their legged nature means their primary method of locomotion is walking, the rocket boosters do allow them the ability to hover - which they use to act as overwatch support for friendly units, and act as a weapon turret or defensive shield. Skitterers are cheap and easy to construct, which makes them an attractive option for deployment in large numbers - something the Banished (especially Colony) take advantage of.

Development history

The Skitterer was originally a creation of the Covenant's San'Shyuum technicians, as a response to the empire's restrictions on artificial intelligence research. With autonomous systems so limited in nature, Covenant engineers instead looked to lekgolo hives as substitutes in select applications, resulting in select Dipholekgolo hives to be pruned and curated for use in driving the machines. The Skitterers created by the Covenant proved the idea's merits and echoed the approach of adopting Rhulolekgolo hives for use in Scarab walkers, though the risk of aberrant and erratic gestalts in such small colonies proved too great a risk for the Covenant - ultimately leading to the idea never seeing mass usage.

The rise of the Swarmlord brothers "Colony" to leadership within the Banished has seen a larger proliferation of Skitterers, thanks to the Swarmlord's ability to more effectively control and direct Lekgolo hives. As such, Colony was able to adapt and perfect the work started by the Covenant to create the Skitterer. The development of the Skitterer vehicle itself was done by the Klavrig Workshop, with large-scale production done by the Armory of Gethrog.

Operational history

Skitterers were deployed by "Colony" against the crew of the UNSC Spirit of Fire in 2559 during the Second Ark Conflict. They were also deployed by Banished forces during their occupation of Installation 07.

Gameplay

Halo Wars 2

• Info: Mech Scout, Light beam attack, Can attach to other units as a turret
• Tier: 1
• Cost: 2, 150, 20

Skitterer upgrade: Focused Beam

• Info: Weapon Upgrade, Increases Beam output, Increases damage and range
• Tier: 2
• Cost: 0, 400

In Halo Wars 2 Skitterers are exclusive units for "Colony" and can be made at Banished outposts once the leader power has unlocked them. Like other scout units the Skitterer can be used to gather resources. The number of Skitterers able to attach to a unit depends on the unit's size. For example a Scarab is able to have three Skitterers, a Mgalekgolo pair two Skitterers, and a Huragok one Skitterer. Once attached to the unit the Skitterer will only be destroyed if the host unit is destroyed. Although it's very rare to happen where the Skitterers can be destroyed first before the host unit, reverting them to pre-attach. In addition to providing more health to the host unit the Skitterers will continue to attack enemies. Without a host unit Skitterers perform okay against infantry, vehicles, and structures, but poorly against aircraft. Once the Focused Beam upgrade has been purchased the Skitterer will perform well against infantry. In Blitz, a Skitterer Mob, consisting of five Skitterers, costs 90 energy.

Core

• Grunt Squad: 1 Skitterer
• Chopper: 1 Skitterer

Infantry

• Goliath: 2 Skitterers
• Suicide Grunts: 1 Skitterer
• Elite Rangers: 1 Skitterer
• Hunters: 2 Skitterers

Air

• Engineer: 1 Skitterer
• Banshee: 1 Skitterer
• Shroud: 1 Skitterer
• Blisterback: 2 Skitterers

Vehicles

• Marauder: 1 Skitterer
• Locust: 1 Skitterer
• Reaver: 1 Skitterer
• Wraith: 2 Skitterers

War Council

• Hunter Captain: 2 Skitterers
• Scarab: 3 Skitterers

Phoenix log

Phoenix Log - Skitterer

Fast scout walker and escort. Skitterer units are mechanized scouts piloted by Lekgolo. They are cheap, expendable vehicles, and their twin-linked beam cannons are surprisingly lethal for a vehicle of this size. Their most notable feature is that they can use a defend ability to set up a protective overwatch on other friendly units and act as a weapon turret and defense shield, increasing the health of the attached unit as well as providing additional firepower. Most units can have at least one Skitterer attached, including infantry and aircraft. The defensive link cannot be undone during a mission. The harsh restrictions on AI research in the Covenant limited the development of autonomous weapon systems, though clever San’Shyuum technicians did find that carefully selected and pruned Lekgolo colonies could substitute for artificial minds in some applications. Though never widely used, combat machines such as the Skitterer proved this approach had merit, though the risk of aberrant gestalts in small colonies meant it never saw widespread use. Colony has adapted and perfected this technique, which allows for the integration of Lekgolo with the Banished Locust and mass production of Skitterers without the behavioral issues that plagued earlier work.

Trivia

• Isabel can have Skitterers (as well as any vehicle or aircraft) if the player utilizes "Combat Salvage" on a hijacked unit to which a Skitterer was attached.
• The Skitterer is the only unit that will still try to kill any Spartans hijacking a unit to which they have attached themselves.
• In Blitz, Suicide Grunts are the only unit the Skitterer won't attach themselves to.
• In Terminus Firefight, it is possible to receive units Colony can't build normally, such as Ghosts, from reinforcement waves. Skitterers can attach to them regardless in the same numbers that the normal equivalent supports.

Production notes

The dimensions provided for the Skitterer are very likely an example of errata in the Halo Encyclopedia (2022 edition) as they are wildly inconsistent with prior lore and in-game depictions of the unit. The Phoenix Logs refer to the Skitterer as a "smaller gestalt," while the in-game depiction of the Skitterer depicts them as much smaller than these dimensions would indicate, something reinforced by the size scale provided in the original concept art which shows them approximately Spartan-sized. Franchise writer Alex Wakeford acknowledged this, saying that the Encylopedia dimensions for the Skitterer are something he personally considers to be erroreous. He further explained that the standard Skitterer should indeed be smaller than a Locust (which these dimensions contradict), but pointed out that a potential "Big Skitterer" variant could potentially exist.

Gallery

• 

  Concept art of the Skitterer for Halo Wars 2.
• 

  Skitterers in front of a Banished Banished outpost.
• 

  Skitterers attached to a Scarab firing at UNSC infantry.
• 

  A trio of Skitterers on Installation 00.
• 

  A swarm of Skitterers fighting a M808S Scorpion.
• 

  A swarm of Skitterers take down a Klavbrig Workshop Shroud.
• 

  Skitterers guarding a Mgalekgolo Captain and two Goliaths.
• 

  Skitterers guarding a Barukaza Workshop Scarab.
• 

  Skitterers attached to a Scarab.
• 

  Skitterers attached to various units under the control of "Colony".
• 

  The Skitterer under Mech Overcharge effect in Blitz.

List of appearances

• Halo Wars 2 (First appearance)
• Halo: The Rubicon Protocol