Bkowe'nei-pattern Vampire

The Type-29 Close-support Fighter, more commonly known as the Vampire, is a Covenant atmospheric fighter aircraft.

Appearance
It consists of a V-shaped hull, with a cockpit/weapon attached to the rear, similar to the Spirit dropship. The Vampire is much larger than the Banshee. In crude terms, it looks like a Covenant plasma rifle on its side with a Needler attached to the rear. Though the Vampire lacks artificial gravity generators, it can develop a stasis field between the booms. It can host up to two pilots, whose cockpits are placed on its wings.

Combat
An excellent anti-air unit, the Vampire boasts high firepower against aircraft, but it is not as adept at defeating ground units, limiting its tactical usefulness. It is not as fast as the Banshee but it is considerably more resistant to damage. Due to its heavy needler turret and wing-mounted plasma cannons, it is able to engage multiple targets at a time. Its turret can turn and keep shooting at flanking enemy aircraft, making them ideal for hit-and-run attacks against enemy aircraft. When upgraded it becomes an even bigger threat, being able to regenerate its health once the Stasis Drain is researched, and making drained units explode with the Stasis Bomb. While its stasis ability is in effect, the Vampire's heavy needler is disabled. It is extremely effective against Hornets, Hawks and Vultures. However it can easily be shot down by Wolverines or by Marines' rocket launchers. It is also capable of being hijacked by SPARTANs. It is very useful as an escort as it can clear the skies of any incoming aircraft, but may need an escort of its own to protect it from enemy ground-based anti-air units.



Halo Wars stats
Resources: 250

Minimum Tech Level: 2

Population Count: 2

Upgrades:


 * Stasis Drain: Allows the Vampire to regenerate itself when using the Stasis Drain against enemy airborne units draining their health.
 * Stasis Bomb: Drained aircraft no longer crash to the ground but explode causing large area of effect damage.

Trivia

 * The stasis ability can affect the Prophet of Regret if he is upgraded with flight capability. It prevents him from attacking and calling down cleansing beam strikes.
 * This vehicle greatly resembles the Protoss Corsair from StarCraft I and II, both in appearance and in role.
 * Like most Covenant vehicles, the Vampire is named after a supernatural entity. The Vampire's name reflects its ability to drain its enemies' energy, much like a mythical vampire does to a creature's blood.

List of appearances
Halo Wars