Shua'ee-pattern Locust

Locust

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 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. The vehicle is about as large as a M808B Scorpion.

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 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 "building killer", Locusts are 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 Jackals, 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. (The inherent vulnerability of the unit makes this a gamble.)

Against other 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.
 * The Locust is the Covenant's equivalent to the Cobra and the Cyclops.
 * It is possible that that the Locusts are the insect-like mining vehicles seen at the Battle 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 very fragile vehicles. Even with full shields and all upgrades, one can be taken out by a few Rebel Squads at full power. This is probably due to their origins as mining equipment.
 * In real life, locusts are insects that fall into the grasshopper family. They are mostly known to strip fields of their crops. The Halo Wars Locust's "building killer" status may be a reference to this.
 * Locusts are presumably piloted by Sangheili or Brutes depending on your leader, as their voices can be heard responding to the player when they are given orders. The vehicles can also be hijacked.