Shua'ee-pattern Locust

Locust

"Destroy those Locusts where ever you find them, they're building killers."

- Sergeant John Forge

The Locust is a Covenant-made quadrupedal walking combat vehicle featured in Halo Wars. It is typically used as a "building killer".

Appearance
The Locust is a smaller counterpart to the Scarab walker, possessing one rotating turret which hosts a single large plasma cannon. It does not share the Scarab's spiked "feet", though it has been seen using its legs to climb over obstacles in a similar manner to its larger cousin. Its central turret looks similar to a Banshee's cockpit. It fires a straight purple-pink beam, which is a useful weapon against ground and air targets. It has a very long and effective range and can hit enemy forces when even their longest-ranged units cannot strike back.The Locust also has a shield that wears down after heavy enemy fire. Once the shield is down, it stays down. The vehicle is about as large as an M808B Main Battle Tank.

Combat and Tactics
The Locust, like the Scarab, is a mining unit that has been refitted for combat. It has the longest effective range of any Covenant ground unit. The Locust is specifically designed to take down static targets, and is only able to open fire when stationary. The Locust can be upgraded with the "Overdrive" attack as well as with the "Shield Amplifier" defensive ability. The former upgrade allows the Locust to divert energy from its shield generator to its main cannon, increasing its attack power; the latter upgrade makes the unit's shield regenerate faster.

As a long-range tool known as the "building killer", the Locust is largely used to attack an enemy's defenses from a safe distance. This is a useful alternative to a direct confrontation, which would result in casualties for the attacker. A small group of Locusts can be used to assist a force of smaller warriors, like Kig-yar, making it far easier for the group to destroy enemy buildings. Larger groups of Locusts can be used in a surprise attack against an enemy, and in such cases, the Locusts can often level the targeted base in under thirty seconds; however, the inherent vulnerability of the unit makes this a gamble.

Against non-structure targets, the Locust is fairly weak. Though able to do significant damage, the Locust 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 is a special attack that drains the user's shield to boost its offensive power.
 * 2) Shield amplifier increases the Locust's shield regeneration rate. It is useful when used with Overdrive, and it 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. Locusts are members of the grasshopper family. They are known for rapidly stripping fields of their crops. The walker's similar "building killer" status may be the reason for the vehicle's name.
 * The Locust is the Covenant's in-game equivalent to the Cobra and the Cyclops.
 * It is possible that that the Locusts are the insect-like mining vehicles seen by SPARTAN Red Team during the Fall of Reach, as mentioned in Halo: First Strike. These vehicles were previously believed to be an early version of the Scarab, which also used to be a mining device.
 * Locusts are presumably piloted by Sangheili or Jiralhanae, depending on the player's selected leader, as their voices can be heard responding to the player when they are given orders.