Energy sword (fiction)

The Type-1 Energy Weapon/Sword, more commonly known as the Energy Sword or the Plasma Sword, is a close quarters Sangheili melee weapon.

Design Details
The Energy Sword consists of a curved hilt that, when activated, shapes and contains superheated Plasma. Two small magnetic-field generators built into the handle of the weapon help form the oval shaped, ionized blades that the weapon is recognized for. The energy sword runs on battery power; an active sword, however, does not deplete the battery's energy: only when the sword makes contact with an object does the battery's energy deplete. Each strike from the sword will drain the battery by 10% of its maximum energy output, but if its user is careful, light strikes will not drain battery power. Once the battery power dies out the sword will deactivate and be rendered useless unless recharged. It is unknown how the battery is recharged. The Energy Sword also contains a fail-safe device that can be activated if the Sangheili wielding it drops it; the fail-safe option is always on, and a Sangheili must deactivate the fail-safe by applying pressure to the hilt before he can safely store the weapon. When the sword is dropped without disengaging the fail-safe, the weapon will deactivate the magnetic field without first dispersing the plasma, consuming the handle and thus destroying the weapon. The failsafe is included to prevent enemy infantry from acquiring the weapon and using it, and is yet another insight to Sangheili tactics.

The Energy Sword is the signature weapon of the Sangheili, and has been part of their culture since the Fourth Age of Discovery, the Sangheili pride themselves on their skills with this weapon, and the Sangheili believe that it is honorable for a Sangheili to fight, and die by the sword. The Sangheili are also very strict on who can be trained in the art of swordsmanship, only Aristocrats are permitted to wield swords and that sword-wielders are no longer eligible for marriage; however, they may breed with any female they choose, married or otherwise, to ensure successful transmission of "swordsman" genes. In service to the Covenant, only the most skilled warriors of the Sangheili like Zealots, Spec-Ops, and Stealth Elites are permitted to use an Energy Sword, and it is implied that they spend years building and improving their skills in order to become combatants in the lethal art of sword fighting. In Halo 3, all Elites, including Minors can pull out Energy Swords and use them when stuck with a Plasma Grenade. The distribution to lower ranks could be a side effect of the Great Schism and the subsequent discarding of religious protocols.

Advantages
The Energy Sword is one of the most powerful melee weapons in the Halo universe. A single strike can kill even a fully shielded Spartan or Sangheili. An over-shielded enemy can take two strikes to kill. Normally a swing of the sword can deplete 140% of the shielding, enough to puncture the shield and kill the enemy. The sword in the hands of a skillful Sangheili warrior or SPARTAN-II can be fatal unless the enemy has enough stopping power in their hands. The sheer power of the Sword is lethal, an energy sword can cut through most armor and slice flesh based targets in half. In the context of the Halo games, the energy sword's strength and lethality, are compensated for both the sake of ESRB rating, and gameplay.

Disadvantages
The Energy Sword is purely a close-quarters weapon, meaning that it is completely useless past close range. A skilled SPARTAN-II can defeat a sword wielder with weapons like the SMG or the MA5 Series Rifle by avoiding getting close to a sword wielder. Another disadvantage is that the Energy Sword, like most other Covenant Weapons, has a battery, requiring the user to drop the weapon once the battery is used up. Although the handle can be used as a club, the Energy Sword's combat effectiveness is minimal when its energy runs out. However, the Energy Sword's battery acts somewhat differently; the battery depletes only when you get a kill. This can prove a disadvantage in that no matter how you kill him/her/it, as long as you use the sword, the battery will decrease.

Changes from Halo: Combat Evolved to Halo 2
In Halo: Combat Evolved the Energy Sword, has a cyan glow, has a far less defined edge and makes a dull clunk when striking something or someone. It is only used by Stealth Elites and Zealots. The player cannot use the energy sword in Halo: Combat Evolved, because once a Zealot is defeated, the fail-safe on the energy sword will activate and disintegrate via the plasma of the former blade collapsing onto the handle, thus rendering the weapon useless, since it is broken, and has no prompt for "pick-up".

In Halo 2, the energy sword is blue with purple undertones and electrical energy crackling on it when the blade is activated, the white glow seen in Halo: CE is also replaced with a more glass like transparency. In the campaign, it is only used by higher-ranking Elites, such as Spec-ops, Ultras and Zealots, however the sword can now be used by a player now. The sword in campaign has a battery and can only be used against a limited number of Covenant forces before the battery dies. When the Energy Sword runs out of energy, it can still be used to attack your enemies. The damage is then equal to a regular melee attack and will take a longer time to kill, unless the player assassinates their enemy.

The sword is usable in Multiplayer but with an infinite battery, like in campaign the sword has two major attacks, a lunge attack and a swing attack, the lunge attack is very powerful and can send the player flying towards an enemy if the reticule is red.

Changes from Halo 2 to Halo 3
In Halo 3 the sword has more of a light cyan tinge similar to its appearance in Halo: Combat Evolved but still has a tint of purple near the handle. It also has an angle near the handle, whereas in the two previous games it was curved. Players are now able to parry with the Sword. The power exerted by the swords hitting each other will drain both player(s) shields, but will not kill them unless one makes the fatal blow. The sword's lunge attack has been reduced for balancing purposes, aside from these changes in design and functionality, the power of the sword remains unchanged. In multiplayer the sword has a limited battery supply, the sword also takes more time to unsheathe.

Changes from Halo 3 to Halo Reach
The Energy Sword appears to have a much longer unsheathing time than in previous games, it also appears that the two "blades" are closer together, and the sword, overall, more closely resembles the incarnation from Combat Evolved.

In Other Media
In the Halo Graphic Novel, there is a variety of sword-type weapons that appear on a wall in the dueling chamber of the Infinite Succor. These range from apparent energy clubs to sickle-like plasma weapons. Also, the swords that Rtas 'Vadum and Kusovai duel with in the story change shape a number of times to exhibit the basic structure of the Type-1 with a few slight differences, as they are used for training, and not battle. In the story Second Sunrise Over New Mombasa, an Elite is shown with a very odd, light-pink, sword, with very thin blades. Also, the Arbiter from Halo Wars uses two energy swords with a modified hilt and a hand guard. In the Halo Evolutions story Headhunters, it tells of a new energy sword variant. It is described of being composed of a reddish energy combined with the white flicker of electricity, which gave it a glow that was blood-colored. It is unknown what the difference is between this one and the original blue variant. In concept art for Halo: Reach an energy sword is seen with several spikes protruding from the side. It is unknown at this time if it has been made into the game.

Tactics
There are two ways a player in Halo 2 and Halo 3 can attack, the first is to lunge with the energy sword. With this, the player lunges forward at the other player. However, this only works when the aiming reticule is lit red, indicating that the opposing player is within range. The second attack is the simple melee, this performs a quick underhanded swipe.

Campaign

 * In Halo 2 the sword is extremely valuable against Elites in campaign. When facing sword-wielding Elites a sound tactic is to jump and lunge attack them. This will kill them quickly and save your shields or your life on higher difficulties.
 * In both Halo 2 and Halo 3 the Energy Sword is the best anti-Flood weapon, as it will destroy Flood Combat Forms in one strike. Although if an infected Elite still has its shield, it may take two swipes, depending on the difficulty setting.
 * In Halo 3 the sword is very hard to come by in the campaign unless facing the Flood, or willing to betray an Elite ally on The Covenant or Floodgate by sticking him with a grenade. If you do, it is a very good weapon against Brutes.

Multiplayer

 * The sword is easily one of the best close range weapons to use in Halo 2. The best tactic is to lay into an enemy player with your secondary weapon getting closer, then when within range perform a quick swipe with the sword for the finishing move. However since there is no way of telling which player has the sword, or no sound way to stop it, it has often been labeled as a cheap tactic.
 * Using Active Camouflage with the sword in Halo 2 is not a wise thing to do as the sword in Halo 2 is still visible with it active. In Halo 3 however, using the sword with active camouflage is a sound tactic as it will now cover the sword when picked up.
 * In Halo 3 the sword lunge is shorter, and the player cannot perform a quick strike, and in addition, the sword is now visible on the character's leg. In order for the sword to be most effective the player must lure a player into a trap where the sword will become effective; camping with the sword in a corner and waiting is the best way to use it to its fullest extent. As a special note, there is a range difference between the B button melee, and the right trigger lunge. The lunge has the maximum range, whilst the B button seems to only work at 1/2 to 3/4 the range. This is, most likely, for balancing, as the B button swings the sword at a much, much faster rate.

Advanced Tactics

 * It is possible to dodge a blow from the Covenant Energy Sword. To do this, one must move quickly to the right when facing the lunging opponent, towards the hand which does not hold the sword. Conversely, to prevent your target from dodging your lunge, simply jump; jumping reduces all chances of missing or being dodged by an opponent.
 * In Halo 3, a new feature has been added so that players can parry their opponent's sword by meleeing or lunging at the same time. If you pull the right trigger right before the other person makes contact, a parrying electric clash is produced, but you do lose some or all of your shield. However, when you get down to no shields, a sword clash will not affect your health, though your screen will flash bright red. This is sometimes known as "Fencing", and can be a game, first to die loses, a useful tactic to use in sword-on-sword fight is, once you parry, melee with the sword. If you time it well enough the sword fight can last indefinitely.
 * Jumping can make the Energy Sword much more fearsome, brutally effective and accurate. Jump and point your reticule down, waiting until it turns red to lunge at the opponent.
 * In Halo 2 avoiding a sword lunge is extremely difficult, if timed correctly and with a bit of luck, side stepping in the direction of the enemy players free hand may save your life, however this is often difficult. In Halo 3 avoiding the sword lunge can be done by using either a Brute Shot or a Shotgun, there is still some difficulty in pulling it off, but the odds of killing a enemy player using the Sword is much greater than on Halo 2.

Dual Wielding
The Energy Sword is non-dual wieldable in any of the present Halo games. It is, however, physically possible to wield two swords at once in the accepted canon. The reason the Energy Sword is non dual-wieldable in game is because it kills most enemies in one hit, so dual wielding would not be necessary. Although, in the Bungie vidoc "Et tu, Brute?" it does show an early animation of an Elite slashing and impaling a Jiralhanae with two swords. To negate this, Bungie removed all possibility of dual-wielding.

In the Halo Graphic Novel, Rtas 'Vadum and Kusovai dual wield swords while in a training exercise, as well as throughout The Last Voyage of the Infinite Succor. Dual Energy Swords are used to fight the growing Flood infestations of the ship. In concept art of Halo Wars, an Elite is seen dual wielding Energy Swords. Dual-wielding is confirmed in Halo Wars as the Arbiter is able to use two energy swords.

There are also mods where a player holds two Energy Swords with two hands, or holding an Energy Sword with the left hand and holding eg. a sniper rifle with the right hand.

Trivia

 * The Energy Sword does not appear in Halo 3: ODST, making one of the four weapons from Halo 3 not to appear in ODST. The other weapons not appearing in the game are the Sentinel Beam, due to the fact that no Forerunner Sentinels appear, the Battle Rifle, even though it was readily available during the Battle of New Mombasa, its purpose is taken by the new Silenced Magnum variant, and the standard Plasma Rifle, which is replaced by the Brute Plasma Rifle. The Energy Sword does not appear in ODST because there are no living Elites in the game. However, near the deceased body of a Sangheili, one can find two depleted Plasma Swords hilts.
 * The Energy Sword in Halo: Combat Evolved had a failsafe switch that activated when the user released it, causing the sword to dissipate in a blue explosion, leaving the player unable to use it, similar to the Fuel Rod Gun. It is not explained why the failsafe was removed from the sword in Halo 2 and 3.
 * In 2008, this was to be released by Jasman Toys to go with their other laser tag weapons; the Plasma Pistol and Plasma Rifle. However, its release has been cancelled or delayed, possibly because of the very pointy tips of the blade.
 * The Energy Sword in Halo 2 can be used to destroy the corpses of Flood Combat Forms so that they cannot be re-infected by Infection Forms. The cutting process drains 2.5% battery. However, any weapon's melee attack can be used to destroy combat form corpses if used enough times, even a depleted Energy Sword hilt.
 * A possible explaination for the large number of visual differences in energy swords is that the appearence is dependant on the maker or craftsmen, its possible the different swords makers in the various states of Sanghelios had different traditions or methods for creatings swords.
 * It was originally going to be usable in Halo: Combat Evolved, but was cut when the game became a First-Person Shooter.
 * In the Halo 3 Vidoc Et tu Brute? there is an unfinished animation depicting Brute Chieftain wielding an Energy Sword, this is however never seen in the hands of Brutes in the final game, possibly because of it being a signature weapon of the Elites.
 * The Fable 2: Limited Edition comes with "Hal's Sword", a crystal blade shaped like an Energy Sword for in-game use, to coincide with the use of "Hal's Armour", which resembles MJOLNIR armor.
 * In the Halo: Graphic Novel, Rtas 'Vadumee is seen with two Energy Swords that are shorter and thinner than the regular type. Two possible reasons would be that it may be a different energy weapon, or it could just be the artistic style of the drawing.
 * In Halo 2 and Halo 3, a glitch can be performed to give the player a Silhouette Sword.
 * In the Halo Graphic Novel, there is a variety of sword-type weapons that appear on a wall in the dueling chamber of the Infinite Succor. These range from apparent energy clubs to sickle-like plasma weapons. Also, the swords that Rtas 'Vadum and Kusovai duel with in the story change shape a number of times to exhibit the basic structure of the Type-1 with a few slight differences.
 * In Halo 3, 7 Forerunner glyphs are visible on each side of the Energy Sword's hilt.
 * In Halo: Combat Evolved on the PC, in DevMode, if you bump-possess an Elite with an energy sword, the sword isn't seen on your HUD, but when you get close to an enemy, you will hear a noise and the enemy is either dead or wounded, meaning that the sword works without pressing any buttons. If you walk over another weapon as an Elite with a sword, he will pick it up, and you will be unable to use the sword anymore.
 * The battery power of the Energy Sword will last longer when fighting the Flood, draining about 2%-5% of the battery per kill.
 * It is possible to get a Sword Spree Medal, even a Slice 'N Dice Medal with an Energy Sword that's out of battery.
 * In Halo Wars, the Energy Swords that Ripa 'Moramee wield are modified to have a different hilt. It is possible that many other high ranking Elites are allowed to modify their personal weapons to a certain extent.
 * In Halo: Evolutions, a blood red Energy Sword is used by the Commando Unit.
 * The Energy Swords in Halo Wars have a significantly larger gap between the blades than in the First Person Shooter games. This may be due to it being an earlier model of the weapon or it may just be a style modification to fit the Halo Wars Elites who wield it.
 * One can see by the shape of the hilt that the Energy Sword was meant to be an Elite exclusive weapon. Its odd central protrusion is perfect for the two central fingers to grab on to, while the back fingers support them from behind. It is certainly not meant to be wielded by humans, as Spartan-IIs hold it in an uncomfortable-looking way; the main four fingers separate between the middle and ring fingers to accommodate for the central protrusion (two on each side) while the thumb acts as the only support from behind. Nevertheless, Spartans wield it just as effectively as any Elite.
 * It has been confirmed that players will be able to use Energy Swords in Halo: Reach.
 * The Energy Sword seems to have a trail of plasma that follows it in Halo CE and Halo Wars. Since it is absent in Halo 2 and 3, it could mean better energy barriers for latter models.
 * A common nickname for people who often hog the sword is "sword whore" and is used against those who are just plain good at wielding the sword.

Internal

 * Gravity Hammer - Mainline Jiralhanae melee weapon.
 * Unlimited Energy Sword - Glitch that helps a whole lot on higher difficulties with the flood.