Kez'katu-pattern Phantom

Were you looking for the Spirit-class dropship used in Halo: Combat Evolved and Halo Wars? Phantom The Covenant Type-52 Troop Carrier (abbreviated Type-52 TC), also known as the Phantom, was a much more formidable dropship than the previously seen Spirit in Halo: Combat Evolved. In Halo 3, it boasted two Plasma Cannons and an unnamed turret similar to one of a Shade's barrels. Phantoms are equipped with a miniature gravity lift; while the lifts can be used to deploy infantry, they are seldom used in Halo 3 -- with the deployment of Hunters being an exception, presumably due to their size. Instead, in hot landing zones, troops will quickly exit through the large doors on either side of the vehicle.

Phantoms also ferried vehicles such as the Wraith, Spectre, and Ghost to their intended drop zones. The crafts made their debut in Halo 2 and returned in Halo 3. They come in two different colors and types: the Separatist Phantoms are green, while the Loyalist Phantoms are the classic shade of bluish-purple found on many Covenant craft.

Operation
The Phantom was roughly equivalent to the UNSC Pelican Dropship in terms of function and performance. Unlike the Spirit Dropship, Phantoms serve more as troop transports than cargo transports. Each Phantom boasts superior firepower, which they use to clear the drop area of enemy forces, and the capability of reaching greater speeds and maneuverability than their predecessors.

The Phantom was a substantial improvement over the Spirit, with a much sleeker and more robust design accompanying much higher offensive capabilities. It came in two separate versions, one of which featured three separate, fully rotational Plasma Cannons that served to barrage the enemy with cover fire while its payload of troops is deployed. Its second variant has the same chin-mounted turret, but swaps its internally controlled side-cannons for Grunt-manned Stationary Plasma Cannons. These could be folded into the dropship for environments that lack an atmosphere, although this greatly reduces its amount of available firepower.

The Phantom crew consists of a pilot, co-pilot, a navigator, and an operations officer who is in charge of the defensive Plasma Cannons. Troops inside were deployed from a Gravity Lift installed in the bottom of the ship or the openings on both sides. As many as 16 Covenant warriors could be carried inside the ship for Halo 2, while in Halo 3 it can transport up to 27 Covenant personnel, including Hunters. It also has the capability to take vehicles into battle which could be brought in these specific combinations: two separate Ghosts; two separate Brute Choppers; a single Spectre; or a Wraith. It could also carry Shades, Deployable Lookout Towers, and parts of an Anti-Aircraft Battery to be assembled upon deployment.

Phantom in Combat
The role of the Phantom was to transport squads of Covenant troops and/or vehicles to a combat zone with speed and efficiency. This tactic is known as Air Assault. It was capable of carrying Grunts, Jackals, Drones, Brutes and Elites; it could also carry a pair of Hunters. They had been known to carry two manned Ghosts or a single Wraith tank into the battlefield for deployment. Phantoms were seen transporting units throughout the Covenant's invasion of Earth and had become a hindrance to the UNSC Special Forces when they attempted to repel the Covenant from New Mombasa during the Battle of New Mombasa. Their use across Delta Halo was also particularly devastating, especially to units which were not equipped with anti-vehicle weapons.

Possessing three rapid firing plasma cannons make the Phantom a much more challenging adversary than the Spirit. However, the Phantom's turrets can be destroyed using ground turrets, vehicles, Rocket Launchers, and other similarly powerful weapons. It is fairly vulnerable to fire with the Rocket Launcher, and a single blast from a Scorpion Tank to the underside of the Phantom can easily neutralize its offensive capabilities, reducing it to little more than an armored personnel carrier. The Phantom has been known to strike fear into their opponents when they are heard cruising over the battlefield, their approach foreshadowing a large assault on an area.

As their hull is heavily reinforced, Phantoms are almost invulnerable to small arms fire. In Halo 2, the Phantom was invincible and could not be destroyed. In Halo 3, the Phantom is destructible. The Phantom's weak spots are the two "engine bulbs" on both sides of the front of the Phantom, and the two tails in the back. The frontal bulb and the corresponding tail in the back seem to make up an engine in the Phantom. A Phantom will go down with four hits from a Fuel Rod Gun to one of the frontal bulbs or one of the tails, on any difficulty. It is unknown if the damage is tied between them, meaning if two shots to the front and two to the back will take it down. Most other changes are superficial, including some new color schemes.

Separatist Phantom
The Separatist Phantom was a modified variant of the Phantom in use by the Covenant Separatist armed forces during the Great Schism. It differed little in terms of its usage, but it had several distinctions that separated it from its predecessor. They were almost always piloted by Elites -- if you destroy the Phantom on the level "The Covenant" at the third tower that drops the Arbiter off, an Elite's corpse will fall from the nose section between the two "eyes" of the phantom which are most likely the cockpit. The Separatist Phantoms in Halo 3 were Marine Gunmetal Green as an open display of the Separatists' alliance with the humans, and emitted yellowish energy and green lights/strobes instead of the purplish energy emitted by the Loyalist Phantoms. There was no difference in the amount of damage the two separate Phantoms take. Separatist Phantoms also cloak on several levels, possibly indicating that they may have been a prototype within the Covenant, later perfected and put to use by the Covenant Separatists. It is possible that the Separatist Phantoms were taken from a group of unused Phantoms.

Operation
The Separatist Phantom, like the Covenant Phantom, was roughly equivalent to the UNSC Pelican Dropship in terms of function and performance. Unlike the DX-class Dropship, this ship served more as a troop transport than a cargo transport. It was used by the Separatists for the transport of armed combat teams into combat zones -- Some Sangheili could be seen wearing assault armor when they exited the Phantoms. It made use of active camouflage generators to fade from sight, making them difficult to find and allowing them to continue to support ground teams even in heavy combat. Like newer versions of the original Phantom, the Separatist Phantom incorporated a chin-mounted Heavy Plasma Cannon, as well as two side-mounted Plasma Cannons to support ground forces and engage aerial threats.

The Separatists use of the Phantom differed little from its Covenant counterpart, and it remained a troop transport intended to support ground forces. However, the inclusion of an Active Camouflage generator on such a scale meant that it was capable of better stealth, improving its effectiveness. Its green color scheme was used to differentiate it from the Loyalist Phantom, making it fit more into the UNSC Military Green decor. In the level The Covenant, if you get in the Separatist Phantom after you come out of the last tower, the ship will disappear, but you will somehow fall through it -- this, however, is more likely because Bungie did not want players riding on the Phantoms.

Combat Capabilities
The Separatist Phantom's primary purpose was as a troop carrier, delivering armed forces into combat zones, using its speed, maneuverability and armament to allow it to penetrate enemy lines, deliver its teams, and then provide close air support to the deployed forces. Its Heavy Plasma Cannon was capable of dealing with threats from light ground vehicles and airborne hostiles such as Banshees, and its side mounted turrets were used to fire on enemy infantry forces to support ground teams or cover them as they embark or disembark. It should also be noted that these Plasma Cannons and the platforms they mounted were generally folded up, similar to the other side entrances of Phantoms. This may have been to protect infantry from heavy fire that may otherwise kill off the troops in the cargo hold, or to achieve space flight and protect the occupants.

The Separatist Phantom was capable of deploying troops in a variety of ways. The sides of the hull protecting the passenger section were collapsible, allowing large numbers to disembark quickly in combat while covered by a gunner operating the Plasma Cannon. Alternatively, ground forces could be deployed from a ventrally mounted gravity lift, allowing the craft to deploy its passengers without landing and making itself vulnerable, though because only a single individual could deploy at a time this method was slower. It also rendered the dropped troopers vulnerable to sniper fire for a few seconds.

Phantom in Halo 3
The Halo 3 Phantom is now destructible, being vulnerable to Fuel Rod Cannons, AIE-486H Heavy Machine Gun rounds, Missile Pods, Spartan Laser shots, M41 SSR MAV/AW Rocket Launcher 's HEAT rockets and missiles fired from Hornets. It was, nevertheless, very durable and able to take up to four shots from a Scorpion tank. (Four Fuel Rod Cannon shots can take one down, as mentioned above under the combat section. Three hits from the rocket launcher could also do the job.) The Separatist version of the Phantom also seemed to have active camouflage, as seen in The Covenant during the Hornet fight and after the Flood arrived.

Changes from Halo 2 to Halo 3

 * The Phantom's hull is now a medium-dark violet in Halo 3, rather than magenta as it is in Halo 2.
 * The Phantom fires shots that are now a purple color, rather than a vivid red.
 * The Phantom is now fully destructible -- not just the turrets on the belly.
 * The Phantom delivers troops by opening side doors, not just by the gravity lift.
 * The Phantom no longer has three separate turrets -- they now have just one mounted on the front, and two Plasma Cannons manned by Grunts or Brutes (or Elites when manned by the Separatists) on either side of the troop bay.
 * The troop bay is open on both sides where the plasma turrets are. It is fully accessible by the player and he/she can leap into it before it takes off. The player is usually killed when the Phantom hits a death barrier.
 * The engines make a different sound in Halo 3.
 * The main cannon's rate of fire is slower.
 * The two upper tail-like parts in the rear of the Phantom appear smaller.

Troop clamps
Troop clamps are equipment used by any Phantoms in Halo 3. They are best observed on the the Storm, when the first Phantom drops a Brute, a cluster and troop of Grunts and Jackals near the Missile Pod. They can only be seen via Theater Mode by pausing and moving the camera inside and out of the specific Phantom. It seems they are on the ceiling. The purpose of troop clamps is to launch infantry out of the gravity lift when deploying troops via the lift. They're only used during times when you are not supposed to see it -- like in Sierra 117 when you see Phantoms deploying, they all just jump out.

Character Compatibility

 * Elites
 * Humans
 * Grunts
 * Jackals
 * Brutes
 * Hunters
 * Drones
 * Spartans (Floodgate cutscene and glitches, Halo 3 and Halo Custom Edition only)
 * Monitors

Appearances
Phantoms do not appear in Halo: Combat Evolved or Halo Wars, and are seen during most levels of Halo 2 and Halo 3.

Halo 2

 * Outskirts
 * Metropolis
 * The Arbiter
 * Oracle
 * Delta Halo
 * Regret
 * Sacred Icon
 * Quarantine Zone
 * Gravemind
 * Uprising
 * High Charity
 * The Great Journey

Halo 3

 * Sierra 117
 * Crow's Nest
 * Tsavo Highway
 * The Storm
 * Floodgate
 * The Ark
 * The Covenant
 * Halo (ending cutscene)

Known Phantoms

 * Glorious Advance - Used for a boarding action against the Infinite Succor.

Trivia

 * Some of the Phantoms seen in Halo 2 cutscenes have no visible turrets. This usually applies to Phantoms that speed past the camera during cutscenes to make the lack of turrets less noticeable, or the fact that they aren't needed and could be put away for extra speed due to less surface area and wind resistance.
 * Even as it slowly replaced the Spirit, the Covenant used both dropships on many occasions during the Human-Covenant War.
 * The Phantom was designed to be big enough to carry a Wraith into combat. The manner in which it would fly, deliver its cargo, and land were all taken into consideration during the design phase.
 * The Phantom manages to combine squat bulk with swooping, curving lines to create an airborne presence that looks heavy, menacing, yet still somehow sleek.
 * In the E3 2003 Preview, the Phantom does not have a gravity lift and the troops are instead dropped off from the back. The Phantom is also capable of carrying a Spectre or a Wraith by using hooks located under its "belly". It also seemed to have only one Plasma Cannon.
 * In actual gameplay, this is one of the few vehicles you cannot pilot.
 * It was noticeable that the Brute Chieftain Tartarus spent most of his time pursuing the Arbiter in a Phantom throughout Halo 2. The ship's ability to travel through space made it invaluable to the Covenant's strike teams when engaging the Heretics and Flood as they sought to uncover the mysteries of Halo.
 * In Halo 3, the Phantoms used by the Arbiter and his Elites vanish right after taking off in the level The Covenant. This might indicate that the Phantoms have technology on board capable of cloaking the entire ship. Players can also enter this Phantom and walk around, but will fall to their death as the ship disappears.
 * On Halo 3's Campaign level The Covenant, once on board the Phantom in single player where the Arbiter and 343 Guilty Spark leave, if you kill an Elite manning a Plasma Cannon, you can get on the turret. Then, when it flies away and cloaks, you will also cloak with it and not fall to your death. Dismounting or detaching the turret will decloak you, causing you to fall through the ship.
 * The Halo 2 Phantom was specifically designed to be almost impossible to board. The Halo 3 Phantom is able to be boarded in a variety of scenarios, levels, and ways.
 * In Halo 3 it takes the same amount of hits from a Scorpion to destroy both a Phantom and a Wraith -- about four hits on Normal.
 * In the Halo 2 level Metropolis, when you encounter the first Phantom, you can make it wobble and hinder it from flying away, though only for a few seconds, when you shoot it. Phantoms were probably given "destruction animations" such as that observed in the demo.
 * The Separatist Phantom is the only Separatist craft seen distinctive from its Covenant counterparts due to its green color. Separatist Capital Ships appear little different, and other vehicles have yet to be seen.
 * Additionally, the energy fields around the Separatist Phantom’s tail fins are yellow, as opposed to a purple-white.
 * On The Ark when you exit the building after turning on the bridge, when you see the Phantom, you can use the Gauss Warthog's turret to shoot and push the Phantom into the cliff wall. You can go over to it and board as it struggles to come out of the wall. You can also use the nearby Chopper.
 * In Halo 3, the Phantoms can be destroyed; however the Phantom that drops 343 Guilty Spark and the Arbiter off is indestructible.
 * In Campaign Scoring charts, it counts as both a "Heavy" and a "Giant" vehicle.
 * In Halo 3, when you destroy the Heavy Plasma Cannon, in some cases, you will receive the "Used Car Salesman" achievement.
 * In higher difficulties, Brutes can be seen manning the Plasma Cannons on the Phantom's sides rather than Heavy Grunts.
 * In Halo 3, vehicles such as Wraiths and Ghosts can fire through the Phantom as it descends to deploy them.
 * In Halo 3, if you destroy a Separatist Phantom, it will emit a green gas instead of the purple from the Covenant counterparts.
 * In Halo 3, Phantoms will, on rare occasions, experience glitches where they will drift through scenery objects, and will keep doing so until they are stuck. This can be seen on Sierra 117, at the point where you see Johnson's crashed Pelican. If you wait long enough, the Chieftain's Phantom will drift into the central depression of the area, and will be pointed straight out towards the cliff.
 * In Halo 3's Campaign level The Storm, if you manage to destroy the Phantom that deploys the Wraith, head over to the crash site and you will find a Grunt armed with a Brute Spiker.
 * On Halo 2, on the level The Arbiter, when the Phantoms drop you off and fly away, if you look where they fly (zooming in is recommended), they will go into the clouds, and then come back out again, spinning out of control.
 * In Halo 3, they have two mounted Plasma Turrets. It can be assumed that they were present on those in Halo 2, but were concealed by the closed side panels.
 * Sometimes if you’re on top of an enemy Phantom, its Heavy Plasma Cannon can fire straight up through the ship's hull, without doing any damage to the ship itself.
 * A Phantom has never been known to have been taken over by the Flood, although the UNSC's Pelican has in Halo 2, and the Spirit has in the Halo Graphic Novel.
 * In the trailer for Halo 3: ODST, a Phantom is seen on patrol using two bright searchlights to sweep the streets. Oddly, the lights are located in nearly the exact location as the Phantom's chin mounted gun, possibly meaning that this Phantom was specifically adapted for patrol or that its gun had a headlight mounted alongside it.
 * The Phantom is seen carrying a Wraith on the Level Metropolis in Halo 2 and the Wraith can be shot off the Phantom.
 * In the level The Ark, the first crashed Phantom you come to will be receiving transmissions from the Brute ships engaged in combat above the Ark.
 * In Halo 2, the Phantom had three automated turrets, one at the front and two at the sides, but in Halo 3, the automated turrets were cut to one at the front and the two automated side turrets were replaced with Grunt-operated turrets.
 * In Halo 2 the Phantom could also drop off two Ghosts in battle.
 * It's possible to trap a Phantom in The Storm in lake bed B by destroying one and causing the wreckage to land on the other.
 * It is impossible to see inside or even go near a Phantom's cockpit, even in Theater Mode. The cockpit's interior is likely empty -- as it is never seen in game, there was no reason for Bungie to even design it.
 * You can destroy a Phantom at the end of Halo 3's Campaign level Sierra 117. Start the level on co-op on Easy or Normal difficulty. At the end, get as much Brute Shot ammo and Plasma Grenades as you can; a Regenerator may also be useful. Wait until the Phantom comes and start firing and sticking grenades to the engine bulbs. You can destroy it before Kilo 23 arrives and starts shooting missiles at it -- you can actually destroy both Phantoms on Easy.
 * When playing on Heroic or Legendary, the first Brute has a Brute Shot. You can use it to shoot off a Plasma Cannon on the Phantom that drops off Brutes and Grunts at the waterfall; if you're lucky, the Cannon may land where you can reach and use it. Another good place to try this is at the crashed Pelican is, after the sniper alley; if you get there fast enough a Phantom will drop off a bunch of Grunts. You can shoot its Cannon, too, and use it.
 * Oddly enough, in the Halo 3 E3 trailer, the Phantom seen makes the sound of a Hunter charging its Assault Cannon, or a Scarab in Halo 3 right before the final explosion it makes when destroyed.
 * The Separatist Phantom is the first Phantom to have the ability to cloak in the Halo trilogy.
 * The Phantom's turrets are modified to match the Shade's in every Halo game. Note that the Spirit's plasma turret is also the same as the Shade in Halo: Combat Evolved.
 * The Phantom may have appeared in Halo Wars: Genesis as a space unit rather than a landing craft.
 * It is unusual that the technology used to replace the Spirit Class dropship has the original manual jump added back to it in Halo 3.
 * On the Halo 3 Campaign level Floodgate, if you kill all the Elites that came from the insertion pods, a second phantom will come and drop off 4 more Spec Ops Elites. Also with the additional health skulls on, by destroying the Phantom's Plasma Cannons, you can force the Elites manning them to join the others being dropped off.
 * In Halo 2, the front "covers" of the engines can be destroyed, like in Halo 3. This will not destroy the Phantom, however.

Glitches
On the level The Covenant it is possible to get inside the Separatist Phantom in Co-op and Single player. In Co-op, you must bring a Hornet next to it after it drops Elites at the Third Tower. You must get your second player to ride your Hornet and put the riding spot next to the opening in the side of the Phantom. If done correctly, he will jump out into the cargo area of the Phantom. Note: you will fall through the areas that the Plasma Turrets sit on. With some effort you can get onto one of the plasma turrets if you manage to hold the button at the right moment. There are two ways to get into the Phantom in single player - by leaping into the cargo bay or manning a turret. After you come out of the Third Tower, a Phantom should be hovering by the edge of the cliff. There should be an Elite manning a turret. Kill him and leap up onto the turret, or just jump into the cargo bay. It is solid so you won't fall through.

On the level Crow's Nest, it is possible to get outside the map by boarding one of three Phantoms at the Hanger. This describes trying with the first Phantom, (similar methods can be used on the others) When you first enter the hanger, you'll have about 10 seconds to get onto one of the front-most yellow walls. Face outward from the center and look up. A Phantom will come and slow down, but still drift more toward you. When it's above you, jump through the Plasma Cannon's stand and press RB to board it. Quickly RB off and Hit A while holding back to jump into the Phantom. You will notice an invisible wall around the back door, go to the left side of it (if facing out the hanger) and back into the corner of the invisible wall. The screen should shake as the Phantom leaves the Hanger. When the Phantom starts flying straight, it is the easiest time to jump back onto the Plasma Cannon with RB. Continue to ride it and it will hit an invisible wall, at which point the pilot AI will disengage, causing it to disappear if you are not in a turret. If you are on a turret while the phantom hits the invisible wall, the phantom's automated turret (the one on front) will disappear and the phantom will be "unmanned" causing it to drop. Usually the fall will kill the player when the spinning dropship ejects the player, but if he or she survives, they is free to explore the surroundings. Note that the phantom is flippable.