Type-33 needler

The Type-33 Guided Munitions Launcher, more commonly known as the Needler, is a Covenant infantry weapon.

Design Details
A Needler is a Covenant projectile weapon that fires long and very sharp shards that are guided until they impale a target — hence the “needler” moniker — several seconds after coming to rest in their target the needle shard detonates creating severe and in most cases fatal wounds. The needler takes a general shape of a V with the top and bottom part of the weapon curved. The weapon takes on a Purple/Pinkish color, and has 14 holes on the top, with the needles protruding out of the holes. When the trigger is pulled the needle is somehow fed from the top into the "barrel" of the weapon, and fired at high speeds. The Type-33 GML is issued to lower and higher ranking infantry in the Covenant, Grunts (and jackals in Halo 3: ODST) are commonly seen wielding this weapon, however higher ranking forces like Elites (and several low ranking Brutes in Halo 3: ODST) are seen using this weapon, Drones are also fond of this weapon, and their efficiency with it is high as their flying capabilities and large numbers make the needler harder to dodge. Though not generally considered effective enough to be a combat multiplier, the wounds this weapon inflicts are horrific. When the trigger is held down, the rate at which the 'needles' are fired increases. However, in Halo 2, the rate stays the same.

The needler is one of the most unusual weapons in the Covenant arsenal and the least understood, how the weapon functions and how the shards are able to track their targets remains a mystery to human military experts and scientists. Like all Covenant weapons, the needler still uses an Energy Coil to power and fire the weapon, should the coil fail the weapon is rendered useless.

Ammunition
Razor sharp crystalline projectiles are fired from this elaborately designed Covenant weapon; it is widely believed that these needles use heat or organic signatures to home in on targets, and may have some relation to the Plasma Grenade and the Plasma Pistol's charged shots, which also react to living tissue and Sentinel mechanics. Once fired, a needle will seek its target until impact, entering the victim's body violently. After several seconds, the contents of the crystalline shard will detonate; injuries inflicted from the exploding shard are gruesome.

Needlers cause two types of damage: penetration, getting hurt on impact of the crystalline needles, and explosive, implosion and explosion of needles wedged in the body and splash damage to surrounding units. A crystalline projectile can cause fatal damage to its victim -- a single shard can cause internal bleeding or strike a vital organ, with untreated wounds resulting in death. Depending on the impact area and angle, several crystalline shards can cause amputation of limbs, and impacts to the chest are in most cases fatal; the explosive properties can easily crack ribs, damage the lungs or heart, and cause severe flesh damage that can be very difficult to repair.

The crystalline projectile appears to contain some type of gas or energy, which is released upon impact with a target; after seven or more needles have struck a target in the same general area, the needles will react to each other, triggering an explosion that kills the victim instantly. When either a single or multiple needles detonate, they release crystal shrapnel, which can embed itself in nearby organisms; thus, friendly fire is often a necessary consideration in close quarters combat.

Advantages
The Type-33, unlike other Covenant weapons, allows the user to aim at the closest target, fire and move on, as its homing ability allows its user to avoid being exposed to enemy fire while inflicting his own. The more needle shards that impact the target, the higher degree of damage it will do to the target, seven or more needle shards detonating at the same place will cause a massive explosion that will cause splash damage and cause shrapnel damage, which can also cause nearby explosives to detonate, giving the enemy another reason to run. The projectiles ricochet when they hit rigid surfaces at oblique angles and retain sufficient velocity, make dodging them a challenging feat.

Disadvantages
While the Type-33 GML is incredibly effective against most infantry, it is much less effective against vehicles. The crystalline projectiles are slow and ineffective to even light armor and will simply bounce off of them. The Needler is also limited to medium range combat situations and even at that range is not as effective, as the projectile travels it loses velocity and thus loses altitude, reducing the chances of impacting a target. In order for the tracking ability to be most effective the targeting reticule on the users heads up display must acquire the target, or if no targeting reticule is available the user must judge how close he must be to a target in order to effectively use the weapon. While the homing ability is incredibly useful the crystalline shard cannot track a target relentlessly, turning at a certain angle will cause the projectile to simply keep flying and miss the target completely, fast turns at certain angles will also cause the projectile to lose the target and travel onward. The needler is also ineffective against linear energy fields, like the Point Defense Gauntlets carried by the Kig-Yar, or stationary energy shields; as the projectiles are repelled without detonating.

Changes
The Needler makes its first appearance in Halo: Combat Evolved, and while its effectiveness was limited to close range the Needler was still dangerous if the player managed to get seven needles to hit an enemy target. The Needler in the first game is larger then its Halo 2 and Halo 3 counterparts, and its maximum ammo is only 100 needles. The Needles super explosion could also cause nearby grenades to go off and either do damage or kill nearby friendlies or enemy infantry; when viewed in first person the needle shards that protrude from the weapon have a blue tinge to them until fired, then take on the pink coloring.

Changes from Halo: Combat Evolved to Halo 2

 * The Needler is now smaller, and is one of the dual-wieldable weapons.
 * The Needler's projectiles when viewed in first person now have a pink tinge to them instead of blue.
 * The magazine size has increased to thirty needles. Maximum ammunition increased from 100 needles to 120 and its maximum amount of magazines decreases by one.
 * Explosion has significantly less splash damage.
 * Only one explosion will go off within an enemy, in Halo: Combat Evolved multiple explosions could go off in one body, even after death.
 * Slower rate of fire in Halo 2.
 * Melee animation is different, and attacks are faster than in Halo: Combat Evolved, however they do less damage, due to the firing muzzle hitting the target, instead of the needles impaling the enemy.

Changes from Halo 2 to Halo 3

 * The Needler can no longer be dual-wielded since the weapon now does more damage alone then it did when dual-wielded
 * The Needler's Reticule must be red (i.e. over a hostile target) in order for the needles to home in on an enemy.
 * Magazine size has been decreased to 19 rounds.
 * Elites will never wield Needlers in-game unless actually given one by the player.
 * Rate of fire has been dramatically increased. The projectiles themselves also travel a lot faster, however their altitude decreases over time.
 * The reload time has been decreased.
 * Unexploded needles remain impaled to the victim after impact. The needles do explode after a short period, but the explosions are small and do no damage.
 * The reticule is now a lot smaller.
 * Multiple explosions on dead bodies can occur once again.
 * No more ammunition in magazine form on the ground.

Halo Wars

 * The Needler does not cause an explosion.
 * They can penetrate and kill a marine in one shot depending on the area of effect.

Changes from Halo 3 to Halo 3: ODST

 * More needles are required to cause a target to explode.
 * Jackals and Brutes can now use Needlers by default.

Tactics
The Needler is best used at close to medium range against groups of enemies in the open. The wielder should be familiar with the amount of lead necessary to make the shots connect, and have a fundamental understanding of the weapons strengths and weaknesses.

Campaign

 * Target the enemy group leader unless the leader is an Elite Ultra, Brute Chieftain, or Brute War Chieftain, in which case you should fall back and switch tactics and weapons for the situation.
 * Elite Ultras, Brute Chieftains, and Brute War Chieftains shielding will disable the needles impact and it is impossible to reload before the needles detonate.
 * It is not advisable to engage enemies with Active Camouflage with a Needler, as the needle shards will not track them. A good tactic is to switch to an automatic weapon and fire it at them, as soon as they become visible switch back to the Needler and lay into them.
 * In Halo 2, Needlers should be dual wielded if possible, or it will be nearly impossible to lodge seven needles in an enemy before some of them detonate.
 * When you're in a tight spot with a lot of enemies near by on higher difficulties, it's best to hide behind something and pick them off with tracking weapons like the needler. Just stick your head out and target an Elite, or Brute, fire off a clip of needles, and repeat.

Multiplayer

 * If you are facing an opponent who's wielding a needler, stay at a distance. This way the needles have more time to travel and it's easier for you to run away and avoid them. If you're far enough away, the projectiles may not even reach you. it's easy to take out a needler wielding enemy with a headshot capable weapon.
 * Enemies with a needler can't harm you when you're in a vehicle, except for a mongoose.
 * Never train the needler on a single target for too long. Rather, with the technique of fire, acquire, repeat you can end up demolishing enemy ranks as the needles do their own job of finding targets.
 * The needler is often underused, but due to it homing ability it can take out a lot of people that camp, like that sniper that's picking off your team.
 * Do not head into an open area with no cover and blast away at your enemies. The projectiles may only strike one enemy if you don't switch targets, and since the needles take a few seconds to explode, you could be killed before any helpful explosion occurs.
 * A needler will still kill someone, even if they are in a regenerator

UNSC Remarks

 * "I don’t know how it works, but it seems the needles can only follow you if they can "see" you."
 * "Anything stuck with enough needles will blow sky high—and if a Foxtrot is unlucky enough to be carrying grenades, those are gonna cook off too."
 * “I caught three in the leg as I was diving behind a broken wall—they lodged right in there where the greave meets the boot. When they went off it damn near broke my ankle and flung like little splinters of glass or crystal or whatever all up my left side—the corpsman was pulling the shards outta me for the better part of two hours.”
 * “Luckily—listen to me “luckily”—the needles only detonate when they’re embedded in living tissue. Now that’s lucky because it’s not gonna blow a hole in the wall you’re hiding behind or tear the tires off of the vehicle you’re trying to escape in.”
 * “It’s about as close to a fire-and-forget small arm that we're likely to ever see—and it ain’t ours. This is why we’re losing.”
 * “First order of business when dealing with a hostile armed with a Needler is finding cover; second order of business is killing the Mike Foxtrot with the Needler.”

Trivia

 * Instead of each needle on top of the Needler pushed separately into the gun as you fire like you may think, like a visible magazine, all 14 needles push in slightly for each shot fired.
 * On the Halo 2 level Sacred Icon, near the first Enforcer fight, behind the Anti-Gravity Gondola, there are 3 overloaded Needlers with 135 needles each.
 * Captain Jacob Keyes and Sgt. Johnson are the only main UNSC characters that use a Needler in-game.
 * In Halo 3, if you look at your shadow while holding a Needler, you'll find that regardless of how many needles are protruding from the top, there will not be any needles visible in the shadow.
 * The Halo 3 Needler is incorrectly labeled as having 30 needles per magazine, instead of the actual 19.
 * The Needler is Fleet Master Voro Nar 'Mantakree's next-to trademark weapon, the other being the Energy Sword.
 * There is a lone Sentinel that fires Needler rounds and drops a Needler when it is destroyed. It is found on the level Quarantine Zone in Halo 2.
 * In Halo: Ghosts of Onyx the Needler is referred to as a pistol. This may be because in the large hands of a Sangheili warrior, it appears to have a smaller shape.
 * Normally if you fire a Needler at a Jackal's shield, the needles will bounce off. In Halo 2, however, one can fire into the center of the shield to damage the Jackal.
 * In Halo: Combat Evolved, the Needler is much larger and heavier than in other Halo games, but most weapons appeared so in Halo: CE, since dual wielding hadn't been implemented.
 * The Heavy Needlers were customized to be able to strike aircraft and vehicles, not just living tissue, as proven by their anti-air capabilities.
 * Brutes have only been seen using Needlers in Halo 3: ODST.
 * In other media, Needlers are depicted as significantly more powerful than their in-game counterparts, with one needle sufficient for causing debilitating pain and a state of near shock.
 * Despite the fact the the Needles are only supposed to detonate in live, organic tissue, it is possible, in Halo: Combat Evolved and Halo 3, to unload needles into a corpse and get an explosion.
 * Odd enough on Campaign, if you are using a Needler at the same time another ally is using a Needler, and you both shoot at an enemy, you must have 7 of either your needles or ally's needles to trigger the Needler explosion. This allows more than 7 needles to be inside an enemy without exploding.
 * In Halo 3: ODST, for killing 10 Covenant soldiers with an explosion from the needler in a single level or in Firefight will reward you with the Pink and Deadly achievement.

Internal

 * Heavy Needler
 * Covenant Weapons
 * Fear the Pink Mist
 * Pink and Deadly
 * Energy Cutlass

External

 * Needler at Halowiki