Assault cannon: Difference between revisions

{{Era|Covenant|Human|UNSC|HCW|Post}}

{{Center|Looking for the closely related Covenant vehicle weapon, the [[fuel rod cannon]], or for the handheld [[Type-33 Light Anti-Armor Weapon|fuel rod gun]]?}}

{{Weapon

The '''assault cannon'''<ref name="multiple">'''[[Halo: Contact Harvest]]''', ''page 267''</ref><ref>'''[[Halo Wars]]''' ''In-game Upgrade''</ref> is a powerful weapon used by the [[Covenant]]. Similar to the [[Type-33 Light Anti-Armor Weapon|fuel rod gun]], it is most commonly utilized by [[Mgalekgolo]], although the [[Hierarchs]]' [[gravity throne]]s are equipped with a variant of the weapon.<ref name="halo2">'''Halo 2''', campaign level ''[[Regret (Halo 2 level)|Regret]]''</ref> The weapon has two primary firing modes, one of which fires the [[incendiary gel]] in globes similar to the standard fuel rod gun while the other fires a continuous stream of the gel.<ref name="multiple"/>

==Specifications==

The standard version of the weapon is incredibly heavy, making it suitable only for Mgalekgolo. The weapon is integrated into the right "arm" of the Mgalekgolo's armor. In most models, the nozzle is surrounded by three metal "fingers", which may serve as manipulators or assist in the guiding of the projectile. Several translucent tubes project from the cannon, containing the glowing green fuel used in the weapon's firing. The Hierarchs' gravity thrones are also equipped with a form of the weapon that is fully integrated to the throne's armrests.<ref name="halo2"/>

The weapon uses tubes of radioactive [[incendiary gel]], very similar to those fired by the standard fuel rod gun, as ammunition.<ref name="multiple"/> The gel can be fired in globs, as seen in ''Halo: Combat Evolved'', ''Halo Wars'', ''Halo: Reach'', and ''Halo 3: ODST'', which detonate on impact and have an arcing trajectory. The weapon can also fire the gel in a "beam", as seen in ''Halo 2'', ''Halo 3'', ''Halo Wars'', and ''Halo 3: ODST''. In both cases, the weapon must charge before firing. The sound and light emitted during charging provides early warning to opponents that the Mgalekgolo is about to fire.

The gel used in the Mgalekgolo's assault cannons is exclusively radioactive green in color, while that used by the Hierarchs' gravity thrones is golden yellow.<ref name="halo2"/>

*''[[Halo: Reach]]'' features a full return to the Halo: CE -era assault cannon, which fires single blobs of bright green gel much like a [[Type-33 fuel rod gun]]. The blast radius is greatly increased and the splash damage can even hurt enemies that are behind thin cover.

*In ''[[Halo 5: Guardians]]'', the assault cannon now fires in two different modes. The first of which is two quick shots that do large ammounts of damage. The other mode is several small projectiles that track players but do noticeably less damage. The small projectiles are fast and meant to target players at ranges where the main attack would not be effective. ''Halo 5'' also introduces the assault cannon as a usable weapon in multiplayer, though each version appears to have only one firing mode as opposed to the hunter's dual-firing version.

*'''Berserker's Claw''': Spartans are well-versed at sourcing weapons from the remains of their enemies. The Berserker's Claw fires a devastating fuel rod shot after a short charging cycle. This fuel rod will track aerial targets.<ref name="anvil"/>

*In ''Halo: Combat Evolved'', Hunters will not continue to track you once the cannon has started to charge, making the Hunters inaccurate with moving targets. Strangely, Hunters will never hit a stationary target, meaning that the original assault cannon's recoil severely lowers the accuracy of said cannon. The player can use this to his/her advantage to avoid being injured by standing completely still and firing from that position.

File:H5G-Venator&WickedGrasp.png|A [[VENATOR-class Mjolnir|Venator]]-clad Spartan-IV using a Wicked Grasp on [[Mercy (level)|Mercy]].

*[[Type-33 fuel rod gun]]