Shua'ee-pattern Locust

Locust

The Locust is a Covenant quadruped walking ground combat vehicle featured in Halo Wars. It is used as a "building killer".

Appearance
The Locust is a smaller counterpart of the Scarab walker, with one rotating turret which hosts a single large cannon. It does not, however, share the Scarab's spiked "feet", It has been seen using its legs to climb over obstacles, like its larger cousin. Its central turret looks similar to a Banshee's cockpit. It fires a straight purple-pink beam, useful against ground and air targets. The vehicle is roughly similar to the M808B Scorpion in size.

Combat and Tactics
The Locust, like the Scarab, is a mining unit refitted for combat. It has the longest effective range of any Covenant ground unit. Specifically designed to take down static targets, it can be upgraded to have the "Overdrive" special attack, which allows it to divert energy from its shield generator to the main cannon increasing its damage, and to have a "Shield amplifier" which makes the vehicle's shield regenerate at a much faster rate. The Locust is able to fire only when stationary.

As a long-range "building killer," Locusts are largely used to take out defenses from a safe distance to reduce casualties. A few can also give solid building-destroying capability to an army that would otherwise be without, such as one consisting only of Jackals. In larger groups, a surprise attack can level a base in under 30 seconds, often before the defender can make it back, although the inherent vulnerability of the unit makes this a gamble.

Against other targets, the Locust is fairly weak. Though able to do significant damage, it is brittle, and falls quickly to concentrated fire. However, its beam can lure enemy units towards awaiting forces, allowing them to be quickly cut down.

Upgrades:
 * 1.Overdrive- enables overdrive special attack which drains shield to boost power.
 * 2.Shield amplifier- increases shield regeneration rate. Useful for using the overdrive ability repeatedly. Also stacks with the "Shield of the Forerunners" upgrade from the temple, allowing an even quicker recharge rate.

Resource: 300

Minimum Tech Level: 2

Population Count: 3

Trivia

 * Like the Scarab, the Locust is named after an insect.
 * Also, the Locust is like a miniature scarab firing a continuous purple beam rather than cyan.
 * The Locust is the Covenant's equivalent to the Cobra and the Cyclops.
 * It is possible that that the Locusts are the insect-like mining vehicles seen at the Battle of Reach, as mentioned in Halo: First Strike attempting to break into CASTLE Base. These vehicles were previously believed to be an early version of the Scarab, which used to be a mining device.
 * Locusts are very fragile vehicles, even with full shields and all upgrades, one can be taken out by a few Rebel Squads at full power. This is probably due to their origins as mining equipment.
 * Locusts are real-life insects that fall into the grasshopper family. They are mostly known to strip fields of their crops, referencing to the Locust's role as a building killer.
 * Locusts are presumably piloted by Sangheili, as Elites respond to the player when given orders, in addition to the vehicle's vulnerability to hijacking.