Shade

The Type-26 ASG, otherwise known as the "Shade" is the Covenant's standard stationary gun turret and anti-infantry weapons platform.

Overview
The Shade is a Covenant stationary gun turret and anti-infantry weapons platform, manned in third person like a vehicle. It consists of a sturdy base and a floating, mobile, turret-like seat with control systems for its gun. In Halo 2, the Shade was replaced with a new Shielded Plasma Cannon, which has energy shields around it, similar to a Jackal's. A similar gun to the Shade can be found as a defensive weapon on Spirit and Phantom dropships. It returned in Halo 3, this time the base is now firmer, and the shade has a much heavier reinforced front to protect the gunner.

The first known encounter with Shades was in 2535 during the Battle of Jericho VII.

Operation
The Shade gun fires three (two in Halo 3) slow moving, high powered bolts of plasma encased in magnetic fields. The accuracy of a Shades weapon is fairly low, as the bolts of plasma fired can hit anywhere within the aiming reticule. Since it is designed with infantry combat in mind it is highly effective against Grunts and Jackals, and has exhibited limited effectiveness against Elites (especially at dropping their shields). But due to their intelligence Elites can often find cover and escape the Shade's field of fire. Its shots lack the required punch to damage Hunters, whose armor and combat shield are immune to it. Lekgolo can easily knock the Shade over with the gunner still inside (Halo: Combat Evolved only.Halo 3's shade cannot be knocked over). It is also fairly ineffective against the Flood, like most other plasma based weaponry.

The Shade offers a wide field of fire and a 360 degree traversable mount. It is highly effective at combating light infantry, has shown a good ability against light vehicles such as the Ghost and in desperate situations can serve as anti-aircraft defense (a few direct hits is all it needs to destroy a Banshee).

Shade in Combat
It is possible to snipe a Shade gunner off its turret, but one must aim above the center (which the red reticule usually denotes) and at the user itself, since the Shade protects the user. In Halo: Combat Evolved it is possible to melee attack a foe off of a Shade. The gunner is highly exposed atop the Shade, with cover only available via the gun mechanism itself. This leaves the operator open to flanking maneuvers and attacks from multiple angles. This poses a serious disadvantage to the gunner. The turret is not permanently fixed to the ground, supposedly for movement/deployment purposes. As such, explosives are an ideal way of uprooting the Shade and ensuring it is subsequently out of action. If the Shade is turned over, then it is possible to flip it back upright.

Halo 3
In Halo 3, the shade was dubbed the "Ball Turret". Almost nothing is known about it except a few leaked pictures (it can be seen in the September issue of EGM on page 60) and it is often operated by the Grunt Race. Specifically the Green-armored Gunner Grunt. Much like the Shade in Halo: Combat Evolved, it uses a Gravity Field to lift the battery off the ground and giving it free 360 degree field of view and a better deadzone.

Revealed through some screenshots of Halo 3 Epsilon, the turret will be usable in multiplayer, and the projectiles are somewhat similar to those on the original Shade.

Design
In contrast to the Shielded Plasma Cannon from Halo 2, the Halo 3 shade seems much better defended, with physical armor encompassing the turret's user. While the cannon hovers on a small gravity lift like the Shade from Halo:Combat Evolved, the base looks entrenched, and so the device may not be mobile. However, much like the Shade in Halo: Combat Evolved it is also probably highly vulnerable to grenade or explosive strikes due to its stationary nature.

The foreign leak and EGM's pictures of the turret are slightly different, and in the EGM photo the Grunt manning the turret seems to barely reach the firing controls, suggesting that it may be designed specifically for the larger species like the Brutes.

Comparison
The Halo 3 shade, in comparison to the shade in Halo: Combat Evolved, is similar and different in a few ways:

Both are used against vehicles and personnel. Both are turrets designed by the Covenant. Both turrets float on an anti-gravity "cushion" projected by their bases.

The Halo 3 shade seems as if it does not need to be protected from the back and sides, unlike the Shade from Halo:Combat Evolved, but the Halo 3 shade protects the gunner from direct headshots with a large pannel on the front of the gunner seat.

Character Compatibility

 * Elites
 * Spartans
 * Grunts
 * Marines (Have animation, but not used in-game).

Related Links

 * Plasma Cannon
 * Shielded Plasma Cannon