Promethean Knight/Gameplay

From Halopedia, the Halo wiki

A Promethean Knight prepares to defend the jungles of Requiem.

The Promethean Knight serves as a mechanized Forerunner Promethean warrior created by the Ur-Didact for use against the Flood and the player in all installments of the Halo series that feature them. They direct Promethean Crawlers, regarding them as cannon fodder.

Combat

Knights are always equipped with Forerunner weapons, with the Suppressor and LightRifle being their default armament. They are also armed with lightblades, which they can use to engage enemies at close range.

Gameplay

Halo 4

An enraged Knight tries to kill an unshielded John-117.
Main article: Halo 4

At range, Knights engage the player with their weapons and slash the player with their lightblades at close range. In addition, Knights can jump towards the player to get up close and attack with their lightblades. They also sometimes deploy Watchers from their carapaces; the Watchers provide protection with Hardlight Shields. As with Elites, Knights can easily be defeated with the Noob Combo using the Plasma Pistol, although this only works on either levels with both Covenant and Prometheans or if the player uses a loadout with a Plasma Pistol in Spartan Ops.

Knights can also teleport away from and towards the player to confuse or surprise them. They are most vulnerable right after teleporting in and are otherwise invulnerable while teleporting. In addition, Knights can enter "rage mode" and aggressively charge towards the player.

If a Knight loses its shields, it will likely roar and be enraged, during which it exposes its face. Shooting it there with a precision weapon will kill the Knight instantly. However, unlike Elites, Knights are more likely to fight back at close range with their deadly lightblades, which can prove fatal on Legendary difficulty.

Once a Knight dies, it leaves behind a small ball of swirling light for a brief period of time. A Watcher can come and revive the Knight from this ball of light, so the player should kill the Watcher too.

Knight Battlewagons can detect the player even through walls and are usually armed with the Scattershot.

Knight Lancers are more dangerous as they are armed with the deadly Binary Rifle, which can instantly kill the player on Legendary difficulty, and they can perform a zig-zag charge against the player, although this can be avoided without too much difficulty,

Knight Commanders are the most dangerous Knights, as they are usually armed with the Incineration Cannon, which can instantly kill the player on any difficulty except Easy. In a similar manner to Hunters in Halo: Reach, Knight Commanders tend to jump and fire their Incineration Cannon at the ground, relying on the weapon's massive splash damage. However, they are also the rarest type of Knight, as they only appear in the missions Shutdown and Midnight.

Halo 5: Guardians

Fred-104 assassinating a Knight Commander.
Main article: Halo 5: Guardians

Changes from Halo 4 to Halo 5: Guardians

  • Knights no longer feature energy shields and are now much more armored than before. Instead, they must be shot on the glowing cores at their sides and then the glowing core at their back or their exposed faces to be killed.
  • Knights can no longer be run over with vehicles.
  • Knights are also no longer capable of throwing grenades.
  • Knights can no longer teleport nor summon Autosentries either. In addition, they can no longer be revived.
  • There are only two classes of Knights normally available: the Battlewagon and Commander.
  • Knights are now almost exclusively armed with Scattershots and Incineration Cannons.

Despite being more armored, Knights are actually less dangerous than in Halo 4, as they now lack energy shields and are no longer capable of teleporting nor throwing grenades. In addition, Knights are considerably rarer as Promethean Soldiers mostly replace them on the battlefield.

To quickly kill one, shoot one at either one of its exposed side cores and then headshot it with a precision weapon once it roars. However, they are still vulnerable to Plasma Grenades, Splinter Grenades, and other explosives.

Warzone and Warzone Firefight introduce Legendary and Mythic versions of Knights, all with significantly more health. The Legendary ones appear as orange with teal highlights, while the Mythic ones are pale red and white with brighter red highlights. Legendary Knights also appear as bosses, sometimes armed with the River of Light Incineration Cannon that fires seven mortar shots for its charged shot. Mythic Knights are even more powerful and dangerous, as they can be armed with the deadly Heartseeker, an advanced Incineration Cannon that fires tracking charges.