Type-33 needler

The Type-33 Guided Munitions Launcher, more commonly known as the Needler, is a Covenant infantry weapon that fires a glowing, pink-blue homing projectile capable of doing lethal damage. Once seven "needles" (which is a reference to Bungie's love of the number seven) embed themselves into an enemy, they explode, killing the enemy in almost all encounters.

Summary
The Needler is one of the less popular weapons of the Halo trilogy. It is an extremely unusual Covenant weapon that fires pink, translucent, crystalline projectiles with a tinge of blue. It is most often wielded by Grunts, Elites, Drones, and sometimes even Jackals have been seen utilizing this weapon. Enforcers also have a larger version of the Needler mounted on themselves, along with one Sentinel which equips this weapon through a glitch. Brutes are also compatible to wield the firearm but is only ever seen doing so in cut scenes.

Its razor sharp crystalline projectiles are fired from this elaborately designed Covenant weapon; it is widely believed that they use heat or organic signatures to home in on targets and may have some relation to the plasma grenade as they both react to living tissues. Although easily deflected by energy shields, the needles cause a chemical reaction in close proximity resulting in an explosive effect, which can have a devastating effect on the victim. While a single needle will shatter and cause very little damage, after seven or more needles have entered a opponent, the energy of the needles will combine and cause a violent explosion, causing massive internal damage that always results in death and sending micro shrapnel and a pink mist flying through the air. In Halo: The Fall of Reach it is stated that the micro shrapnel can embed itself in nearby organisms; thus, friendly fire is often a necessary consideration in close quarters.

It is possible that the brighter section of the projectiles is the "Heart". When it embeds in something or goes on for too long a distance, the outer casing is penetrated, hitting the heart, setting off a catalyst, or is worn away too much and then it does the same catalyst effect. This may also fit the fact enough needles put in a target "Combine" their catalyst effects, creating a violent explosion wrecking from the very inside.



Advantages
This weapon fires homing needles that embed themselves in the flesh of a target before exploding to cause damage. The rate of fire increases with continuous fire. If seven or more needles strike the target, the needles' combined strength will create a large purple/pink explosion, killing the target and causing splash damage to other nearby enemies. This is another reference to the number Seven in the Bungie games. Needles can penetrate the energy shields of Elites, Sentinels, and Spartans, but bounce off Jackal Personal Arm Shields and a Hunter's large metal shield. They are especially useful against the Brutes in Halo 2's Campaign mode if many needles hit the Brute. In addition, the secondary explosions often kill surrounding enemies. For example, if you fire an entire magazine into a charging Flood horde, then you will finish over half of them through secondary explosions of the Needler.

In Halo: Combat Evolved, the Needler can be useful for taking out several enemies clumped together; the first seven shots will kill the enemy and the rest of a magazine will set off secondary explosions. In Campaign, the explosions will set off nearby grenades, making the Needler very deadly against groups of enemies or powerful foes such as the Elites. It is also a good weapon in tight corridors, where it is impossible for enemies to dodge the needles by moving left or right, or any wide places with little to no cover. Also, you may use this weapon to kill the driver while not damaging the vehicle, provided you can get close enough for the needler to even be effective.

In Halo 2, the only game in the trilogy where you can dual-wield the weapon (which suggests that a lighter model is used in that game), the effectiveness and rate of fire of the Needlers can be increased by firing them "out of phase". This is accomplished when the user begins firing one of his Needlers a fraction of a second before the other, and continues to fire them in full-auto so that the shots from each weapon are fired in a "one-two punch" pattern. You can tell when the pattern is just right because the guns will sound as if they are firing much more rapidly. This allows for a more constant and consistent stream of fire. Since each needle is in its own slot in the firing sequence, the failure of one needle to impact the target no longer means that two will fail.

In Halo 3, the Needler is much more powerful than ever before. With a faster rate of fire, greater accuracy, quicker projectiles, better homing capabilities and higher damage, the Needler has been improved in virtually every area. As the Needler now behaves more like a rifle than an SMG, it can no longer be dual-wielded. However, it's no longer necessary to do so. Frankie has been quoted as saying that the Needler is now nearly a power weapon on its own.

When playing the Halo 3 Campaign, until reaching Legendary, it will not be considered as too much of a powerful weapon, but when it is, it's one of the best weapons to kill Brutes and many other opponents such as the Flood. It only takes those seven needles, even on higher difficulties, and the homing makes it practically unaffected by the difficulty setting. Most skulls do not alter the Needler's effectiveness. The only skull that makes it less effective is Tough Luck, as enemies are liable to dodge the homing needles.

Disadvantages
The fired needles are slow and ineffective against vehicles to the point of just bouncing off them. In Halo 3 the Needler's magazine size is quite small (19 needles), considering the rate of fire and the fact that you can't dual-wield it. The needles also take time to hit/explode on the target, leaving the target time to move in and inflict some of the explosive splash damage on the shooter. This is best illustrated when dealing with the Flood or a Zealot wielding an Energy Sword. It is nearly impossible to hit invisible enemies with the Needler because in Halo: Combat Evolved and Halo 2, it does not home in on invisible targets, but in Halo 3 the Needler is able to home in on camouflaged Brutes. The learning curve of the "lead" needed to hit strafing targets is also high. And when faced with experienced opponents in multi-player (who often randomize their strafing patterns) the weapon is almost always overshadowed by better, more reliable options. An enemy who goes in a circular path will always dodge the Needler rounds; you can empty magazines into the air and not hit him or her. Against larger and more heavily armored opponents, such as Hunters, the Needler is generally ineffective. The Needler also proves ineffective against Jackals because the needles will harmlessly repel off the shields unless flanked. Unless one can fire sideways with the Jackal caught unawares, as the projectiles are slow, and the Jackal will have time to place their shield in front of themselves. The only way to easily kill Jackals with the Needler is to fire at point-blank range, but the proximity would be so close that a melee would be better suited instead. Therefore, any other weapon is preferable to wipe them out. Thus, the needles themselves do not inflict much damage, and that only the general explosion inside the enemy will kill them. Therefore, combination's of shooting/meleeing to get a kill are not ideal with this weapon. Also, this means that, in Halo 2, the Needler should be dual wielded only with another Needler or a plasma weapon for draining Jackal shields. In addition, the Needler is more or less useless against enemies with protection (ex. the Hunter's shield). The reason is that the needles will bounce harmlessly away. Only if you aim extremely carefully will you be able to hit them at all, much less fill them up. Covenant species in this category include Hunters and Jackals. Additionally, the Needler is among the worst of weapons to finish off a player who's shields are drained. This is due to the fact that each needle only inflicts a small amount of damage and that it will still most likely take the seven needles to kill the player despite the fact that only one or a few shots from any other weapon could kill him or her.

The Needler's ammunition is limited. Even at maximum magazines, the Needler will run out in a short time, after killing only four or five shielded enemies. Other weapons, like the MA5C Assault Rifle are more effective, carrying up to five times more ammo, and requiring only half-3/4 of a clip to kill an enemy.

Description and Appearance
While the Needler appeared in the original Halo: Combat Evolved, the individual crystalline needles were used as a hand to hand weapon in the novel, Halo: Contact Harvest. It made a return in Halo 2, and was made a bit less powerful with the advent of dual wielding. However, after Halo 2's 1.1 multi-player patch, the weapon was toned down even more. The weapon returns in Halo 3. This time it is not dual-wieldable, but the weapon has been significantly rebalanced to allow it to stand on its own; it is one of the most effective medium-ranged weapons in the game, especially when used against Brutes or Flood. However, some people prefer not to use it. It is noticed that in Halo 3, in front of the barrel of the Needler there is an electricity-like pink plasma channel, similar to the channel on the plasma rifle and pistol. This is probably where the needles become energized.

Changes from Halo: Combat Evolved to Halo 2
Needler is smaller compared to the player.
 * In Halo: Combat Evolved, the gun, as well as the needles before and after firing, had a slight blue tinge to them, this is all but eliminated.
 * It is wielded far less often by enemy Elites and Grunts.
 * The magazine size is increased to thirty needles. Maximum ammunition increases from 100 needles to 120. Maximum amount of magazines decreases by 1.
 * Explosion has significantly less splash damage to harm those nearby.
 * Only one explosion is needed to kill any Covenant enemy; in Halo: CE, up to three were needed to kill high ranking Elites on difficulties as low as Normal.
 * Needles fly faster.
 * Only one explosion will go off within an enemy, in Halo: Combat Evolved multiple explosions could go off in one body, even after death.
 * The melee attacks are faster than in Halo: Combat Evolved.
 * Slower rate of fire in Halo 2.
 * Melee animation is different, and seems to do less damage.
 * Dual-wieldable.
 * Needler no longer has magazines on the ground.

Changes from Halo 2 to Halo 3

 * Reticule must be red in order for the needles to seek.
 * Magazine size has been decreased to 19 rounds.
 * Rate of fire has been dramatically increased.
 * Needles appear to travel faster.
 * Weapon can no longer be dual wielded because it was deemed, "Over powered".
 * Will never be wielded by Elites unless you give them one.
 * Power Increased.
 * A large explosion can only be attained when you have shot seven needles into the target.
 * Unexploded needles remain impaled to the victim after impact.
 * The needles do explode, however, after a given period of time, but the explosions are small and do little to no damage.

UNSC Remarks

 * "I don’t know how it works, but it seems the needles can only follow you if they can see you."
 * "Anything stuck with enough needles will blow sky high—and if a Foxtrot is unlucky enough to be carrying grenades, those are gonna cook off too."
 * “I caught three in the leg as I was diving behind a broken wall—they lodged right in there where the greave meets the boot. When they went off it damn near broke my ankle and flung like little splinters of glass or crystal or whatever all up my left side—the corpsman was pulling the shards outta me for the better part of two hours.”
 * “Luckily—listen to me “luckily”—the needles only detonate when they’re embedded in living tissue. Now that’s lucky because it’s not gonna blow a hole in the wall you’re hiding behind or tear the tires off of the vehicle you’re trying to escape in.”
 * “It’s about as close to a fire-and-forget small arm that we're likely to ever see—and it ain’t ours. This is why we’re losing.”
 * “First order of business when dealing with a hostile armed with a Needler is finding cover; second order of business is killing the mike foxtrot with the Needler.”

Character Compatibility

 * Master Chief
 * Sgt. Johnson
 * Captain Keyes
 * Elites
 * Spartans
 * Drones
 * Grunts
 * Marines
 * Flood Combat Form (Human)
 * Flood Combat Form (Elite)
 * Needler Sentinel Easter Egg (Bungie Error)

Trivia

 * The Needler is part of the infamous Noob Combo with the Rocket Launcher, it earned this title as it has the ability to lock on to its target.
 * Instead of each needle on top of the gun pushing into the gun separately as you fire like you may think, like a visible magazine, they all push in slightly for each shot fired.
 * It is highly speculated that the Needler was inspired by Half-Life's Hive Hand (The one that spits out bee-like insects) due to its similar ability to lock on to enemies in a homing manner.
 * In the Halo: Combat Evolved instruction book, there are Needler blueprints under the Plasma Rifle blueprints.
 * It takes seven or more needles to set off the full explosion and kill targets such as Spartans or Elites. This is another early incarnation of Bungie's fascination with the number 7.
 * In Halo: Combat Evolved on Easy difficulty, it is possible to kill a Hunter using a Needler, but it takes exactly three magazines of ammunition to do so.
 * In the Sacred Icon in the first Enforcer fight behind the Gondola there are three overloaded Needlers with 135 ammo each.
 * Captain Jacob Keyes and Sgt. Johnson are the only main UNSC characters that use a Needler in-game.
 * The only levels in all three games of the Halo trilogy where Needler ammunition can be found outside of the weapon is 343 Guilty Spark and the Truth and Reconciliation when you first get in the ship in Halo: Combat Evolved.
 * In Halo 3, if you look at your shadow while holding a Needler (regardless of how many needles are protruding from the top) there will not be any needles visible in the top of the Needler in your shadow. This is to compensate with simple reloading and the third person of the person with the Needler.
 * The Halo 3 Needler is incorrectly labeled as having 30 needles per magazine, instead of the actual 19.
 * Needlers cause two types of damage. Penetration, getting hurt on impact of the crystalline needles, and Explosive, implosion and explosion of needles wedged in the body and splash damage to surrounding units.
 * The Needler is Fleet Master Voro Nar 'Mantakree's next-to trademark weapon, the other being the Energy Sword.
 * The Needler is one of the few Covenant weapons that use re-loadable ammunition. The others are the Fuel Rod Gun, the Carbine, the Spiker, the Mauler and the Brute Shot. This is of course simple speculation, as the UNSC has not found a way to reload the battery of any plasma weapon.
 * There is a glitch in Halo 2 where you can get a Jackal to fire a Needler, but no needles will come out. To read more, go to this page.
 * Some players amid Halo 3's Multiplayer discern the Needler as a cheap way of getting a simple kill as it does not require much talent to aim a homing weapon.
 * There is a Sentinel that fires Needler rounds and when destroyed it drops a Needler. It is found on the level Quarantine Zone in Halo 2.
 * In Halo: Ghosts of Onyx the Needler is referred to as a pistol. This may be because in the large hands of a Sangheili warrior where it appears on a smaller scale than if it were in Human hands.
 * The Needler is used to acquire the Fear the Pink Mist achievement in Halo 3.
 * Normally if you shoot at a Jackal's shield with a Needler it will bounce off. But if you shoot the center of the shield, it will penetrate and injure or kill the Jackal (Halo 2).
 * Halo 3 is the only game where the needle's smaller explosions after it impacts won't hurt you.

Related Pages

 * Covenant Weapons
 * Fear the Pink Mist
 * Energy Cutlass
 * Needler at Halowiki