Type-33 needler

"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."

- Anonymous serviceman

The Type-33 Guided Munitions Launcher, better known as the Needler, is a Covenant infantry weapon that fires a homing projectile capable of doing lethal damage.

Background
Prior to the pink, translucent crystals being used as projectiles in the Needler, they were used by the Covenant as daggers or knives in hand to hand combat. Just as with the Needler quills, these individual crystals, when stabbed into an object or being, would explode into shards after a short period causing major trauma to the victim or object.

The Needler is a highly unusual Covenant weapon in that it fires pink, translucent, crystalline projectiles. It is most often wielded by Unggoy (Grunts), and Yanme'e (Drones), but Sangheili (Elites) and Kig-Yar (Jackals) have also been seen utilizing this firearm.

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 (however the organic signature theory is unlikely, as it will track Sentinels as well). Although easily deflected by energy shields, the needles cause a chemical reaction in close proximity resulting in an explosive effect. After a number of needles have entered a hostile, they will shatter causing massive internal damage.

Appearances
While the Needler first appeared in the original Halo: Combat Evolved, the individual crystalline needles used as a hand to hand weapon appear in the Halo novel, Contact Harvest. It made a return in Halo 2, and was made slightly less powerful with the advent of dual wielding. However, after Halo 2's 1.1 multiplayer patch, the weapon was toned down even more. The weapon returns in Halo 3. This time it is not dual wieldable, but the weapon have 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.

Advantages
This weapon fires enemy-tracking needles that embed themselves in the flesh of a target before exploding to cause damage. The rate of fire increases with continuous fire. If 7 or more needles accumulate in the target, the needles' combined strength will create a large explosion, killing the target and causing splash damage to other nearby enemies. Needles can penetrate the energy shields of Elites, Sentinels, and Spartans, but bounce off Jackal Personal Arm Shields. They are especially useful against the unshielded Brutes in Halo 2's Campaign mode.

When dual wielding, 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 it's 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 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.

Disadvantages
The needles are slow, and are not effective against vehicles. 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. It is nearly impossible to hit invisible Elites with the Needler, as they do not home to camouflaged targets. The learning curve of the "lead" needed to hit strafing targets is also high. And when faced with experienced opponents in multiplayer (who often randomize their strafing patterns) the weapon is almost always overshadowed by better, more reliable options. Against larger and more heavily armored opponents, such as Hunters, the Needler is generally ineffective. In addition, the needles themselves do not inflict much damage, and that only the general explosion inside the enemy will kill them. Therefore, combinations of shooting/meleeing to get a kill are not feasible with this weapon.

Effective Against
The Needler is effective against Spartans, Elites, Grunts, Brutes, Sentinels, Drones and small groups of tightly packed Flood. With careful timing and execution, it can also be effective against Hunters.

Changes in Halo 3
The changes are a smaller magazine clip, quicker firing and cannot be dual wielded.

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’re 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 that **** out’a me for the better part of two hours.”

“Luckily—listen to me “luckily”—the needles only detonate when they’re embedded [sic] 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 were likely to ever see—and it ain’t ours. This is why we’re losing.”

Extra Ammo Needler
On the level Sacred Icon in the first Enforcer fight behind the Gondola there are three overloaded Needlers with 135 ammo each.

Character Compatibility

 * Elites
 * Spartans
 * Brutes (have animation but not used)
 * Jackals
 * Drones
 * Grunts
 * Marines
 * Flood Combat Form (Human)
 * Flood Combat Form (Elite)
 * Needler Sentinel

Trivia

 * The Halo Custom Edition team CMT has created a needler on their multiplayer maps with a very unique reloading action that seems more likely to be the true way to reload a needler.


 * One way to possibly reconcile the difference between the Halo 2 Needler (dual-wieldable) and the Halo 3 Needler (not dual-wieldable), is to declare that there are two types of Needler: a pistol version, and a rifle version. Both have few differences, aside from their functionality, though the rifle Needler has a slightly longer "stock" (an almost visible design difference between Halo 2 and Halo 3).

Related Links

 * Covenant Weapons
 * Fear the Pink Mist