Archive:Halowars.com/Covenant

''This is a word-by-word replication of the soon-defunct original page at Halowars.com. As such, any errors or irregularities are simply carried over from the original page.''

The Covenant is a large alliance of several alien species that are more technologically advanced than Humans during the events of Halo Wars. First started as a loose non-aggression pact between the Elites and the Prophets, the Covenant quickly assimilated other races using superior firepower and tactics. The other races were given the choice of joining the Covenant or being destroyed.

Over the many years since the Covenant was founded they have taken over a large part of the Galaxy and have declared humanity a heretic race and are engaged in a Genocidal war against them.

Citadel
"All hail the Great Journey"

The seat of power in the Covenant. This is the main nerve center for the interplanetary warfare of the covenant. It offers a modular system that makes aggressive colinization and rapid deployment of troops and armor effective. This is the where the political and religious leaders of the Covenant or the Covenant issue orders to the various races and cultures that create the Covenant.

Shield Generator
One of the main advantages that the Covenant possesses over the UNSC is that they are able to field shield equipment on infantry, vehicles, space craft and structures. The Covenant Shield Generator occupies a building slot at the Citadel and provides a powerful shield over all of the Citadel’s structures, vastly increasing the defensive strength.

Covenant shield technology is repurposed Forerunner technology and requires vast amounts of power to use. Once the shield is drained, the buildings underneath the shield begin to take structural damage. Over time though, the shield will begin to regenerate back up to full strength. Expensive, and taking up a build slot, commanders who wish to use the Shield generator must choose between a strong defense, and other options.

Warehouse
You Store Things Here

The Covenant Warehouse utilizes gravity lifts to bring down supplies to Covenant bases. From here, workers move the supplies to the proper area for further use by the Covenant commander. The Warehouse can be upgraded to increase the rate of incoming supplies.

Turret
The Covenant Citadel comes with four available turret slots. These slots have room for light, medium and heavy turrets and can be further upgraded with specific anti-vehicle, anti-air, and anti–infantry turrents. The plasma mortar, fuel rod, and Needler upgrades can prove devastating against their opposing units. Approaching enemy units would be wise to take our Turrets quickly or risk their forces being decimated. Turrets are expensive, and while they provide a very effective defense, they cannot hold out forever and will need military support in order to ensure victory. Turrets are very effective against Leader units and aircraft. Armament: Plasma Turrets


 * Crew: Automated


 * Role: Anti-Armor, Anti-Infantry, Anti-Air

Temple
The Temple is the main cultural and scientific building of the Covenant. This is where Prophets go to meditate upon Forerunner artifacts and how to best erradicate humanity. The upgrades that the Covenant research here are very expensive, however they are also very effective and powerful.

Scarab
The Scarab is the most frightening weapon in the Covenant arsenal. Repurposed heavy mining equipment, the Scarab’s mining laser can inflict massive damage across the battlefield. With anti-air turrets on top and a colossal laser, the Scarab is the most feared Covenant vehicle. It can climb over any terrain and although a slow, it is often the center of any battle it finds. Incredible expensive and slow to build, the Scarab is often seen late in battles and is often a deciding factor. Something as big as the Scarab would be too expensive to conduct battlefield upgrade to, so there are no upgrades available.


 * Armament: Heavy Mining Laser, Anti Aircraft Plasma Cannons


 * Crew: A Lekgolo colony directs the Scarab from within.

Hall
The Covenant Barracks is home to the Well-trained and numerous infantry of the Covenant Forces. Grunts lead by Elites, Jackals and Hunters are trained here. The different races are housed separately according to their status in the caste system. Grunts, the lowest of the caste system performs many of the more demining tasks. The lone Jackals tend to only socialize amongst themselves, while the solitary hunter’s communicate with each other via their collective consciousness.

The powerful covenant upgrades are researched here as well, augmenting the covenant infantry with better energy weapons and armor.

Jackal
The Kig-Yar, or Jackals, is an Avian species often seen with shields and longer range weapons. They make up the bulk of the Covenant ground forces (after the Grunts). The Jackals are often used in scouting or sniping roles, using their superior senses to their advantage.


 * Armament: Beam Rifle


 * Homeworld: Eayn

Grunt
The Grunts, or Unggoy, are the foot soldiers of Covenant ground forces. Used in large numbers to overwhelm enemy positions, Grunts are weak as individuals but are a force to be reckoned with in groups. Almost always lead by a higher-caste Covenant infantry unit, such as a Brute or Elite, they can wield most Covenant weapons. The methane tanks that they breath from sometimes explode with funny results.


 * Armament: Plasma Pistols, Needler

Hunter
The Hunters, or Mgalekgolo, are massive colonies of small worm-like creatures known as Lekgolo. These colonies of many smaller creatures take the form of huge, heavily-armored bipedal infantry. Carrying a massive shield and a Fuel Rod Gun, Hunters occupy a strong anti-vehicle role. Always appearing in pairs, they are more than a match for most UNSC Vehicles.


 * Armament: Special Hunter Shield

Summit
The Summit is the roost for all the the Covenants powerful air force. The quick Banshee, the deadly Vampire and the versatile Engineers are all built here. The upgrades that make the Covenant Air Force even more fierce are available here.

Banshee
The most frequently seen Covenant Aircraft is the Type-26 Ground Support Aircraft, or Banshee. Carrying one pilot, this versatile and nimble aircraft is used to scout and harass enemy forces. Carrying twin plasma cannons and a fuel rod cannon, the Banshee can deal serious damage to both ground and air forces. It also has been known to have a speed boost ability.


 * Armament: Twin-Plasma Cannons, Fuel Rod Cannon

Engineer
The Engineer, known as the Huragok by the Covenant, is a race of gas-filled alien creatures created by the Forerunners to perform maintenance on Forerunner structures. The Engineers are the only way for the Covenant to repair their building and vehicles during combat and are very effective, especially once upgraded. They automatically search out damaged machinery to repair. They have no defenses or weapons and are easily killed, although they can repair each other, but not themselves. They can be upgraded to the State of Grace which increases their repair rate and to give them Harmonious Digestion increases their movement speed. The Engineers have the ability of taking apart random technological objects without issue and being able to put them back together exactly how they found them. This is probably their way of studying and understanding new technologies.


 * Role: Healing

Vampire
The Vampire is the mainstay of Covenant anti-air aircraft. With a heavy Needler turret, the Vampire can quickly overwhelm enemy air forces with a large barrage. Very effective in groups, it can bring an opposing aircraft down in seconds. When upgraded, the Vampire can drain enemy aircraft of their energy and cause it to crash to the ground, although this causes the Vampire to take damage as well. The Vampire’s upgrades can be a game-changing element in air battles. The Stasis drain can lock down enemy air units while the stasis bomb can freeze enemy ground units for Covenant forces to pick off.


 * Armament: Heavy Needler, Stasis Drain Cannon, Stasis Bomb


 * Crew: 1 or 2 man crew pods

Factory
The Factory is the manufacturing facility for Ghost scouts, Wraith Tanks and Locust walkers. This building serves as a sophisticated warehouse for all of the land based vehicles in the Covenants arsenal, and the powerful upgrades for all of the units are also researched here.

The Covenant can build the Factory immediately from the get-go without having to upgrade the Citadel giving them early land based firepower.

Locust
The Locust, like the Scarab, is another converted mining vehicle repurposed for military use. The Locust uses a powerful mining laser to inflict great damage to buildings. Although slow and expensive, the Locust is still a serious threat to UNSC forces, and buildings. It has an incredible range and can hit enemy forces when even their longest range units cannot strike back. Once upgraded, a pack of Locusts can quickly decimate an enemy base in only a few seconds. The Locust has two upgrades that can make it a more effective fighting machine, Overdrive to increase movement speed and a shield amplifier to increase how much punishment it can take.


 * Armament: Charged Plasma Cannon

Ghost
The Type-32 Rapid Assault Vehicle, called the Ghost by the UNSC, is a very commonly used scout vehicle by the Covenant. It is lightly armored and carries twin plasma cannons for armament. It is quick and excellent for harassing infantry and even UNSC tanks have trouble hitting it since it is so agile. Piloted by an Elite, it is very effective as a light vehicle. The Ghost has very powerful upgrades such as a boost ability, additional thrusters allowing it to strafe and juke incoming enemy fire, and finally an energy shield that deflects incoming damage.


 * Armament: 2 X Plasma Cannons


 * Crew: 1 Driver


 * Role: Scouting

Wraith
The Type-25 Assault Gun Carriage, also known as the Covenant Wraith is their main battle vehicle. Heaviy armored, it functions more like a tank than it’s artillery-like cannon would imply. It fires a heavy plasma blast at targets causing area of effect damage, and melting through enemy armor. The Wraith is fairly quick and can devastate enemy armor columns and infantry at range. It is also equipped with anti-personnel plasma cannons. They carry thick armor that is almost invulnerable to small-arms fire. It’s upgrades include a heavier shield providing more defensive strength, a Scorch ability that allows it to set the very ground on fire causing extra damage and finally a plasma modulation upgrade that vastly increases the firepower of the main gun.


 * Armament: Plasma Mortar Cannon