Type-33 needler: Difference between revisions

[[File:ReachSchematic - Needler.png|150px|thumb|left|A blueprint of the needler in ''Halo: Reach''.]] The Type-33 Guided Munitions Launcher is a Covenant projectile weapon that fires long, sharp crystalline shards that are guided until they impale a target — hence the “needler” moniker. Several seconds after coming to rest in their target, the needles detonate, creating severe and in most cases fatal wounds. The needler's top plate has 14 holes, with the needles protruding out of the holes. When the trigger is pulled, the needle is fed from the top into the "barrel" of the weapon, and fired at high speed. The Type-33 GML is used by Covenant foot soldiers of nearly all types. [[Yanme'e]] are also fond of this weapon, and their efficiency with it is high as their flying capabilities and large numbers make the needles harder to dodge. When the trigger is held down, the rate at which the 'needles' are fired increases.

The crystalline projectile appears to contain some type of gas or energy, which is released upon impact with a target; after [[seven]] or more needles have struck a target in the same general area, the needles will react to each other, triggering an explosion that kills the victim instantly. The explosion of multiple needles is a result of proximal resonance instability.{{Ref/Reuse|h4evg}} When either a single or multiple needles detonate, they release crystal shrapnel, which can embed itself in nearby organisms; thus, friendly fire is often a necessary consideration in close quarters combat.

The Type-33, unlike other Covenant weapons, allows the user to aim at the closest target, fire and move on, as its homing ability allows its user to avoid being exposed to enemy fire while inflicting his own. The more needle shards that impact the target, the higher degree of damage it will do to the target; seven or more needle shards detonating at the same place will cause a massive explosion that will cause splash damage and cause shrapnel damage, which can also cause nearby explosives to detonate, giving the enemy another reason to run. The projectiles ricochet when they hit rigid surfaces at oblique angles and retain sufficient velocity, making dodging them a challenging feat. The weapon is most useful on wide open maps, as even though it has a limited effective range, the projectiles can follow a target for a long time and will almost certainly hit anything slower than a Banshee in Halo 4. At the very least, it is a good weapon at forcing an enemy into cover. However, in newer games such as ''Halo 4'' and ''5'', the needler is more effective against shields than it was in earlier titles.

While the Type-33 GML is incredibly effective against most infantry, it is much less effective against vehicles. The crystalline projectiles are slow and ineffective to even light armor and will simply bounce off of them. The needler is suited to a very limited medium range, as the projectiles have too great a travel time for longer range attacks, due to losing velocity and altitude the further they travel, while at close range the target can simply move towards the user and attempt to kill them with the resulting explosion, thus rendering the attack useless. Related to this is the needlers lack of instant results; ie. the user could shoot a target with the 7 needles required to super-combine, but be killed by the target before the needles detonate or even impact. Next, in order for the tracking ability to be most effective the targeting reticule on the user's heads up display must acquire the target, or if no targeting reticule is available the user must judge how close they must be to a target in order to effectively use the weapon. While the homing ability is incredibly useful, the crystalline shard cannot track a target relentlessly - turning at a certain angle will cause the projectile to simply keep flying and miss the target completely. Fast turns at certain angles will also cause the projectile to lose the target and travel onward. The needler is also ineffective against linear energy fields, like [[Kig-Yar]] [[Kig-Yar point defense gauntlet|point defense gauntlets]], or stationary energy shields, as the projectiles are repelled without detonating. Finally, a more minor disadvantage is that the needler is unsuited to setting off explosive devices like [[Fusion Coil]]s, often requiring several clips of ammunition to destroy one, as the shards typically bounce off the fusion coils instead.

The needler makes its first appearance in ''Halo: Combat Evolved'', and while its effectiveness was limited to close range, the needler was still dangerous if the player managed to get seven needles to hit an enemy target. The needler in the first game is larger than its ''Halo 2'' and ''Halo 3'' counterparts, and its maximum ammo is 80 needles. The needles' super-combine explosion could also cause nearby grenades to go off, and either do damage or kill nearby friendlies or enemy infantry. When viewed in first person, the needle shards that protrude from the weapon have a blue tinge to them until fired, then take on the pink coloring.

*The needler is now smaller, and is one of the dual-wieldable weapons.

*The needler's projectiles when viewed in first person now have a pink tinge to them instead of blue.

*The magazine size has increased to thirty needles. Maximum ammunition increased from 80 needles to 90 and its maximum amount of magazines decreases by one (20/80 to 30/90).

*Melee animation is different, and attacks are faster than in ''Halo: Combat Evolved''. However, they do less damage, due to the firing muzzle hitting the target, instead of the needles impaling the enemy.

*The explosion of the needler is stronger, about as strong as a plasma grenade.

*Drastic decrease in the projectiles traveling speed

*The needler projectiles will now aggressively follow a target, and will only appear to be locked on if the target is visible e.g. if a target goes into cover after being targeted the needles will fly about without homing in however if the target re-emerges the needles will lock on again once more.

*Magazine size has been decreased to 19 rounds but reserve magazine increased by 1 (30/90 to 19/76).

*[[Elite]]s never wield needlers in-game unless given one by the player.

*Rate of fire has been dramatically increased to about 570 rounds per minute. The projectiles themselves also travel a lot faster, however their altitude decreases over time.

*The needler is more accurate.

*The needler is now smaller.

*The needler's projectiles tracking is less noticeable.

*[[Kig-yar|Jackal]]s and [[Jiralhanae|Brute]]s can now use needlers by default.