Paegaas Workshop Spiker

Were you looking for the Type-51 Carbine, also known as the Covenant Carbine? "Recoil isn't as bad as you might expect, but not because of any sophisticated dampening system – it's because the damn things weigh so much."

- Anonymous UNSC Serviceman

The Type-25 Carbine, more commonly known as the Spiker, is a common Jiralhanae firearm used during the Human-Covenant War.

Design Details
The Type-25 Carbine is an automatic fire, magazine fed, double barrel weapon, that fires metal spikes that appear to be superheated by some sort of electrical discharge that occurs before the spike is shot from the barrel of the weapon. Two large blades made of tungsten carbide, an extremely strong and durable material, are mounted under the barrel of the weapon, increasing its close quarters effectiveness. The Spiker ammunition is fed into the weapon via a small drum magazine with a 40-round capacity. The drum magazine is located on the underside of the weapon, behind the blade and in front of the trigger.

This weapon resembles human technology more closely than it does the other weapons in the Covenant’s arsenal. It performs admirably in a variety of environments; it is a widely held belief that the weapon could sit unattended for several weeks in an active latrine and still operate as issued with no maintenance performed on it. Unfortunately this is not far from the truth. Though it was first observed over a quarter century ago this weapon has not been seen in the hands of front line troops until just recently. The Spiker is based on the Jiralhanae's native pre-Covenant technology, meaning it has been in use since they first learned how to create a firearm. Although the Spiker is classified as a Carbine, it is more of a counterpart to the UNSC's M7 SMG, having very similar range and penetration capabilities.

Advantages
In the field, Brute Spikers have similar penetration and lethal range to the UNSC M7 SMG, but there are a few key differences. Unlike SMGs, there is little recoil, and therefore almost zero “rise” when using them in their default, fully-automatic setting. This actually makes them a little more efficient and accurate than the SMG in combat situations, since there is no need to adjust aim to compensate for recoil. The spiker's high velocity and kinetic impact against shields is high, although the rounds are simply deflected or melted by the energy shield before inflicting damage to the underlying structure. The Spiker can usually kill a heavily armored and shielded target with a single magazine. The spikes do terrible damage to human flesh, and can tear through armor with ease, creating devastating wounds that are extremely painful for those who survive an attack. Its two large blades are very deadly against shielded and unshielded infantry at close range, as they can be used to either slash or stab an enemy with fatal effects. A SPARTAN-II or Sangheili can duel-wield Spikers doubling their firepower.

Disadvantages
The Spiker, like the SMG, is most effective at close range, and while short bursts can increase its range, it is ineffective at medium and long range. The Spiker's rounds lose speed and altitude as they travel, reducing their accuracy over longer distances. The Spiker in the hands of normal human infantry is heavy, and can be quite difficult to carry around and use. The spikes have a very large spread when fired in fully-automatic mode, larger than any weapon in both the UNSC and Covenant's arsenal.

Tactics
The Brute Spiker was introduced in Halo 3 and has a fast reload time, even when dual wielding, compared to the SMG. The Spiker's blades increase the damage of the melee attack marginally. The spikes travel slower than the SMG's rounds.

Campaign

 * The Spiker is a great weapon for close quarters combat. The Spiker is incredibly useful on Sierra 117, Crow's Nest and interior portions of The Storm and Floodgate.
 * The Spiker is the most effective rapid fire weapon against the Flood as the spikes will tear through the rotting flesh of the infected creatures. It is also effective against the Ranged Form; however, they must be dealt with quickly before it begins to morph into deadlier forms. The blades on the Spiker also kill flood very effectively, the best tactic is to simply wait for the flood forms to charge you and just melee them. However, any flood wielding powerful short-range weapons should be dealt with at range.
 * The Spiker is always a sound choice for engaging lower ranking Covenant forces as the spikes will damage flesh heavily.
 * A good dual-wielding combination would be the Plasma Rifle, as the Plasma Rifle will take out the enemy's shields while the Spiker will finish the unshielded enemy off.
 * In Halo 3: ODST, the blade makes it much more effective melee weapon than other weapons (excluding other bladed weapons).

Multiplayer

 * As with Campaign, duel-wielding a Spiker with a Plasma Rifle is a great combination for taking out shielded targets.
 * If engaging a target at mid-range lead your shots to compensate for the slow velocity of the spikes.
 * It can be easily countered by a Shotgun wielder. If the spiker user stays back, he may be able to kill the shotgun user before he can pump another shell.
 * Be aware that when firing at a target at medium range, the spikes have a slight arc, enough so that if the shooter was aiming at the chest or head, the spikes may have ended up hitting the target's feet, or may have missed entirely if not using controlled bursts. However, at those ranges, the spread would render the Spiker ineffective so engaging an enemy at this range is not recommended.
 * The Spiker with a Plasma Pistol is most effective combo when attempting to surprise-attack a lone enemy. Use an overcharged Plasma Pistol shot to take out the enemy's shields and use the Spiker to kill the unshielded enemy.

UNSC Remarks

 * “Even though the spike rifles are really heavy, I still wish there was some way to retrofit a full stock onto 'em.”
 * “Recoil isn't as bad as you might expect, but not because of any sophisticated dampening system – it's because the damn things weigh so much.”
 * “I saw the Baby Kong go dry so I moved in with my shotty, well that's the last time I'll be doing that, huh? Damn cleaver-bayonet-thing went right through the shotty and cut my arm off just above the elbow. Only reason I'm still here is because of, well you know, because of him."
 * “Every action requires exaggerated movement; cycling the bolt, seating a magazine, charging the chamber. Even squeezing the trigger takes quite a bit of effort. And it isn’t all that surprising considering the disparity in size of our two species.”
 * “Bravo Kilos sure have a thing for sticking blades on their equipment, don’t they? I bet their mess kits have three knives.”
 * “The projectiles fired from this weapon seem to be made out of the same material as the Spike Grenade’s casing. Wounds caused by this weapon are horrifying.”
 * “Spike rifles always have a weird sorta burnt hair smell about them. And you know you’re heading towards a firefight where they’re bein’ used if it smells like a barbecue gone wrong.”

Trivia

 * Over time the Type-25 Carbine has garnered the nicknames “Spike Rifle”, “Spiker”,"Nail Gun" and “Hatchet Gun”.
 * Miranda Keyes is killed by 7 spikes shot from a Spiker used by the Prophet of Truth.
 * It has been quoted in the Halo 3 Guide Book that the Spiker may have a rapid rate of fire, but the projectiles themselves are quite slow to reach their target.
 * The projectiles decrease in altitude the further they are shot, similar to the Needler.
 * Despite the popular belief, the Spiker's bayonets do, in fact, provide a small increase in melee damage. The Spiker's melee damage is seventy-two points. All non-Brute weapon melee attacks in Halo 3 with the exception to the Sword, Hammer, and assassinations inflict seventy points damage out of a player's 115 total health. It is 70 to the shield, and then the remaining 45 to the player's own health.
 * In campaign mode, if a Phantom is shot down and a Grunt survives from it, it will always have a Spiker as its weapon, firing faster than its normal rate.
 * The Spiker is incorrectly labeled in the Halo 3 Game Manual as having 48 rounds per magazine, instead of the actual 40.
 * Brutes use it as a pistol but it is referred to as a rifle, as the retired soldiers in the video "Enemy Weapon" called it a "spike rifle." However Sergeant Johnson called it a "heavy pistol" in Halo: Contact Harvest.
 * In Halo: Contact Harvest, Captain Ponder is impaled by two Spikers wielded by Tartarus while buying time for the citizens of Harvest to escape.
 * The Spiker's ability to ricochet makes it one of the easiest non-explosive suicidal guns in the game. All you have to do is deflect the spikes at a hard surface such as a wall so that it hits your armor and fire until death.
 * The projectiles fired by the Type-25 are 1 foot (30cm) in length and are longer than the weapon's magazine. The material that each round is made from is porous in nature, and may be under compression. They may be made in a way that when they are heated, forced forward, and released, molded in the shape of a spike once they come out of the gun's barrel. They then expand and lengthen to 1 foot (30cm) once they strike their target.
 * The Type-25 Carbine resembles Human weapons more than other Covenant weapons, though its powered characteristics imply that it is an electronically-augmented percussive projectile weapon.
 * Oddly, while other solid projectiles are deflected, the spikes from a Spiker will lodge themselves into a Jackal's energy shield, but would not hurt the Jackal.

Internal

 * Type-2 Antipersonnel Fragmentation Grenade
 * Type-3 Antipersonnel/Antimaterial Incendiary Grenade
 * Type-52 Pistol
 * Type-25 Grenade Launcher