Plasma Sword

Summary
The Covenant Plasma Sword, or Energy Sword, was thought at first to be purely ceremonial. They are rarely seen in combat, but are invariably carried by high-ranking Elites. In Halo: Combat Evolved, they are first encountered in Truth and Reconciliation, first wielded by a Infiltrator Elite, then by Gold Elites, while in Halo 2, they are optionally used by SpecOps Elites in the first three levels, otherwise the first level in which they will always appear is The Arbiter.

Though its true functionality is unknown, it seems that the sword's plasma energy is held into a blade-like form with small magnetic field generators built into the handle mechanism. This technology is found in all Covenant plasma weapons. In Halo:CE, if the wielder drops the weapon, a fail-safe activates, deactivating the magnetic field without first dispensing the plasma, consuming the handle and destroying the weapon. In Halo 2, a similar fail safe is active when not wielding the weapon directly. The handle must be under pressure from the handler to be activated, so the weapon can be stored.



Recent discoveries show that the fail-safe is not always activated, thus Spartans are able to wield the Energy Sword in Halo 2. It also has a new look. In Halo:CE, the sword glows more brightly, therefore making it more difficult to see the actual blade. Halo 2's is less bright. Both the "new" and the "old" Energy Swords show through Active Camouflage.

It has a charge of 100 battery units in singleplayer. Varying amounts of energy are taken up by the various means of killing a foe, however normal swipes that merely harm the foe do not consume power. Therefore it may be prudent to hurt a foe until he nears death and finish off with a weapon that has more readily-available ammunition. Around 10 energy is taken by killing a normal opponent, but only 2.5 (2-3) energy is used when killing Flood with it.

The Energy Sword is one of the very few weapons that can dismember the bodies of dead Combat Forms, preventing their revival by Infection Forms. Doing this, however, will still take up energy.

Although very powerful, the Energy Sword has been proven to be completely useless against Hunters, even when slashing at their vulnerable orange skin.

All Zealots (Gold Elites) carry an Energy Sword, and White Elites will pull one out if you get close enough. It will only drop the Sword if it has pulled it out; not if you killed it while it is still using its ranged weapon. The sword is extremely powerful and, seen in action in a cutscene during the Halo 2 level The Oracle, the Arbiter slices through extremely thick metal in order to destroy the wires suspending a Gas Mine used as a base by the Heretics. He does this to force the Heretic Leader to come out of hiding and face him in combat (a battle which the Arbiter eventually wins).

Tips
You can dodge sword lunges in multiplayer by sidestepping away from the hand with the sword. Also, jumping and lunging makes your lunges more accurate.

It is possible to obtain an infinite amount of energy in the sword in campaign (see Infinite Energy Sword). All you have to do is empty all of the energy from the sword before completing a level. When you cross over to the next level you'll still have your empty energy sword, but it acts like a normal one. And when you cloak you can see an outline of the sword. Its very useful for the level Oracle. Just remember to have an empty sword by the end of the Arbiter level.

On Legendary difficulty an energy sword is not as handy as in the other difficulties because you have to get up close to your enemy. This isn't the same if your enemy has one, if you're on the same level as your enemy that has one, and you don't have any Plasma Grenades, a Fuel Rod Cannon or a Rocket Launcher or a Newb Combo the Elite you're fighting has already won.

Multiplayer
In multiplayer, there is no limit on the amount of energy the Energy Sword can use before running out. However, like all other "power" weapons, there is always only one Energy Sword on the map in all standard gametypes.

Character Compatibility

 * Elites
 * Spartans
 * Flood Combat Form (Human)
 * Flood Combat Form (Elite)

Related Links

 * Infinite Energy Sword