Energy sword (fiction)

The Type-1 Energy Weapon/Sword, known more commonly as the Energy Sword, is a Close quarters melee weapon. Favored by Elites, this energy weapon is more dangerous than its ceremonial nature implies.

Cultural Significance
The Energy Sword holds a high significance in Sangheili culture. Only high ranking Elites are permitted to wield an Energy Sword. Sangheili culture even allows an Elite with great sword skills to mate with any female he chooses, but they may not marry. This is to make sure that the 'Swordsman' genes are passed to as many offspring as possible.

Technical Specifications
The Energy Sword's plasma is held into a blade-like form by small magnetic-field generators built into the handle mechanism. This technology is found in all of the Covenant plasma weapons. In Halo: Combat Evolved, if the wielder drops the weapon, a fail-safe activates, deactivating the magnetic field without first dispensing the plasma, consuming the handle and destroying the weapon. In Halo 2, a similar fail-safe is active when not wielding the weapon directly. The handle must be under pressure from the handler to be activated, so the weapon can be stored.

It has a charge of 100 battery units in single player. Varying amounts of energy are used up when killing various foes (e.g. flood combat form: 3 units). However normal swipes that merely harm the foe do not consume power; you have to kill the foe to consume power. Therefore it may be prudent to hurt a foe until he nears death and finish off with a weapon that has more readily-available ammunition. Around 10 energy is used by killing a normal opponent, but only 2.5 energy is used when killing Flood with it. Killing Infection Forms does not use any battery power. In multiplayer on Halo 2, there is no limit on the amount of energy the Energy Sword can use before running out. However, like all other "power" weapons, there is always only one Energy Sword on the map in all standard game types. In Halo 3 there is a limit on the amount of energy.

Advantages
The Energy Sword is one of the most powerful weapons in Halo 2 and Halo 3. A single lunge will kill even a fully Shielded Spartan or Covenant Elite. An over-shielded enemy can take 2 lunges to kill. In Halo 2 it is also one of the very few weapons that can dismember the bodies of dead Combat Forms, preventing their revival by Infection Forms. Doing this, however, will still take up energy. In Halo 3, a sword cut will dismember unshielded Flood Combat Forms. In Multiplayer for 3, the lunge is shorter as well as having some connection issues. Most of the time, the lunge will connect and will eviscerate your opponent. There is insufficient data to support this, but on several occasions, combatants have used the sword to eliminate overshield users. The variable is that the overshield decays over time, so there is no clear evidence of how much damage a sword lunge will actually do. The sword can also parry melees with appropriate timing. This is most common with other swords, but there is video evidence of a sword parrying a hammer strike. The primary fire button initiates a lunge, and the melee button initiates a fast slash.

Disadvantages
The Energy Sword is only a close quarters weapon, meaning that it is completely useless past close range. A skilled player can defeat a sword wielder with low-power weapons like the SMG or M6C Magnum by staying out of range. Another disadvantage is that the Energy Sword, like other Covenant Weapons, has a battery, requiring the player to drop the weapon once the battery is used up. Although the handle can be used as club, the energy sword's combat effectiveness is minimal when its energy runs out. Energy Swords also show through Active Camouflage, making it harder to be stealthy. However, in Campaign, the sword seemingly cannot be seen by enemies through Active Camouflage. Perhaps if they do see it they think the player is a camouflaged elite. But, in Halo 3, the sword is completly invisible if you too are invisible.

Variations
In Halo: Combat Evolved the energy sword has a cyan glow. It is mostly used by the Zealots. Master Chief cannot use the energy sword in Halo 1. Once a Zealot is defeated the energy sword will activate a fail-safe and disintegrate. In Halo 2 the energy sword is blue and somewhat purple. It is only used by higher-ranking Elites. In Halo 3 the sword has more of a light cyan tinge similar to its appearance in Halo 1 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. The Sword will have a limited battery supply in multiplayer, and more time will be needed to draw it.

Dodging Sword Lunges
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.

Infinite Energy
In Halo 2, it is possible to have an infinite amount of energy in the sword in campaign. All you have to do is empty all of the energy of the sword before completing a level. When you cross over to the next level you'll still have your empty energy sword, but it acts like a normal one. And when you cloak you can see an outline of the sword. Its great for Oracle. Just remember to have an empty sword by the end of The Arbiter, Delta Halo, Outskirts, or maybe even Uprising.

Parrying
In Halo 3, it is possible to "knock" someone's sword lunge away with your own sword. If you pull the right trigger right before the other person makes contact, a sort of "lightsaber clang" is produced, and you don't die, but you do lose half your shields. Be careful though; they can lunge back at you and kill you.

Jumping
This tactic can make the energy sword more fearsome. Jump and point your reticle down, waiting until it turns red to lunge. This tactic makes it harder for your enemy to track you with their reticle, and thus you are more likely to win in a sword fight.

Surprising attack
Put it away when you are crossing open grounds, if an opponent saw you approaching with an Energy Sword, they will usually shoot you down before you can even come into range. The best way is to switch to another weapon and use surprising lunge attacks at time.

Dual wielding

 * The energy sword is non-dual-wieldable in every Halo game, but modding in Halo 2 can allow for two swords.
 * There are references to the use of dual-wielded energy swords by high ranking Sangheili as discipline training in the Halo Graphic Novel. This also explains the facial injury on Rtas 'Vadumee, obtained during such combat with 'Kusovai.
 * Due to a render seen in the early Brute ViDoc released by Bungie, it was conjectured that the Energy Sword would be a dual-wieldable item in Halo 3, but this has since proven to be false.

Character Compatibility
Certain Brutes can use energy swords in Halo 2 but they never do
 * Elites
 * Spartans (Halo 2 and Halo 3)
 * Flood Combat Form (Human)
 * Flood Combat Form (Elite)

Trivia

 * A man proposed marriage to his girlfriend during a forge session by spelling the sentence "Marry Me" with Energy Swords.
 * In the Halo 3 ViDoc: Is Quisnam Protero Damno! a red Spartan can be seen with an Energy Sword on his thigh as if it were a secondary weapon. In the ViDoc, the sword is clearly engaged, even though it is in the secondary position. In the Beta, however, it is in its disengaged state when not in use.
 * The Energy Sword can be found in Outskirts on Heroic and Legendary after killing one of the cloaked Elites just after Sergeant Johnson leaves or, on Legendary when the Phantom arrives in the courtyard a Zealot will be dropped off with an Energy Sword. The sword can also be found in Outskirts on any difficulty after Sergeant Johnson leaves via Pelican in a building with a dead UNSC Sniper on the floor. Above there is an Energy Sword lodged in the floor. Its first official appearance is The Arbiter, however, there is a trick on the Outskirts level in which the Master Chief can wield a sword for the first time on Earth. Occasionally, one can be obtained on Cairo Station when at the end of the level an Ultra Elite is present. If you come close to him, he will pull out his sword and if you kill him, you have the sword. There is also an Energy Sword in the level Metropolis in the Scarab. It is held by the Ultra Elite. If you get close to him, he will drop is Plasma Rifle and pull out his Energy Sword.
 * While playing as the Arbiter if you have a drained Energy Sword (0% charge) and use active camouflage you will see a camouflaged outline of the blade despite the blade not actually existing.
 * If you swing the sword immediately after switching to it, it will have a misty blue color over it for a few seconds. This is not normally visible, as the animation causes the sword to go off-screen during activation.
 * If you play co-op and get the other person to wield a 0% energy sword, get him to swap to another weapon and back. You can see blue gas coming out from the handle.
 * In Halo 2 and Halo 3 there are Covenant glyphs on the handle.
 * Bungie has confirmed an altered functionality to the energy sword. Pressing B or the right trigger will lead to two different attacks. B- quick swipes, R- lunge.
 * Bungie has stated that the Halo 3 sword has "clang", which is described as an active block. Hit a button just as they attack to parry it or something to that effect.  Unknown whether this works on hammers too, but it seems unlikely. Sometimes this is very annoying for instance trying to kill a swordsman with a sword, both attacking at the exact same time causing 10 "clangs" before resulting in a death.
 * While the sword was unaffected by the active camouflage in Halo and Halo 2, in Halo 3 it takes full advantage of invisibility.
 * In Halo 3, the right trigger attack needs more time before performing another attack. A way to counter this effect is to use standard melee (B).
 * It is speculated that the bright flash and loss of shields when the you parry an enemies blow comes from the magnetic fields colliding and trying to overpower each other.
 * In Halo 2, there is a glitch that allows you to cancel out the annimation on the sword lunge, allowing acces to supposedly unreachable areas on certain maps, such as Turf, Zanzibar, Terminal, Burial Mounds, etc.
 * On the level Delta Halo, at the part where you must get off your tank at the temple where a Pelican drops off more Marines, atop the temple there will be 2 dead Grunts with 2 Energy Swords. You will have to do a series of grenade jumps and crouch jumps, but it pays off. You will see a dark hole when you get there. Jump down and there will be the 2 Grunt corpses with the Energy Swords. See this.
 * In the popular machinima series Red vs. Blue, the energy sword is portrayed as a "key" that will help the gang along in their quest to save the Alien race. As Caboose states, "It's a key all the time and when you stick it in people, it unlocks their death."