Needler

From Halo - Wiki on Neoseeker

Needler
Needler
Affiliation	Covenant
Ammo Capacity	76 needles
Clip Capacity	19 needles
Accuracy	High
Range	Close~Medium

The Needler is a Covenant weapon. It has been in all three Halo games. Its a medium-range weapon with a slight tracking feature, making it a truly deadly weapon. Once 7 needles from the Needler have attached themselves to an enemy, they'll all explode, causing the player's death. In Halo 2, they were dual-wiedable and the needles traveled much slower. In Halo 3, it is more similar to the Needler from the original Halo game.

Spartan wielding Halo 3's Needler

Counteracting

Defending against a Needler can be hard. The best thing to do when getting shot by a Needler is to strafe around the opponent. This allows you to evade the Needler's tracking abilities. Also, its important to remember that the Needler only tracks when the reticule is red. Whenever you're in combat against the Needler, it is smart to go behind cover to block the needles. If you have a long range weapon, or just want to avoid the Needler completely, then be sure to keep your distance away from the enemy using the Needler.

Strategies

A narrow hallway or tunnel is a very effective place to use the Needler. Also, striking enemies that don't see you will ensure that it will be too late to maneuver out of the way. It is not a good idea to shoot at an enemy going perpendicular to you with the Needler, as none or few will hit.

The Needler is the best weapon for taking down an enemy with overshield only taking a couple of dead on shots for your opponent to fall to the ground.

Campaign Mode

In Campaign of mode Halo 1 the Needler was mildly effective. Although the weapon is relatively powerful its destructive power is slow to act on enemies since you have to fire 7 needles into the enemy before they explode.

In Halo 2 however, the duel wielding ability make the Needler one of the most deadly arsenal at your disposal. Dual wielded Needlers provide twice the rate of fire so the time between when you start firing and when the needles explode is much shorter, and you can easily take down even powerful enemies like Brutes and shielded Elites. The minor tracking ability also means this weapon is superb against fast moving targets like rampaging Brutes and targets that are strafing from side to side like flying elites.

Related Forum Threads

Related Forums