Bungie Universe
This topic has moved here: Subject: How come the grafton did not just mac the spire?
  • Subject: How come the grafton did not just mac the spire?
Subject: How come the grafton did not just mac the spire?
  • gamertag: [none]
  • user homepage:

I recently played through tip of the spear for about the 5th time (favourite mission) and I thought of something.

Why doesn't the grafton just use its mac cannon on the spire while its shields are still up?

I mean the spires shields cannot be that strong, considering that it takes one or two mac rounds to take down the shields of a covenenant frigate which is a lot bigger than the spire and also has a massive reactor fueling it.

Just a thought

  • 11.14.2010 8:41 AM PDT

On hiding dead bodies:
Posted by: Psuedo
Posted by: teh Chaz
Inside another dead body. It's the last place they'll look
A corpse within a corpse.
CORPSEPTION.
Win.

Why can a person pass through a Bubble Shield, yet incoming fire cannot?

Covenant have a habit of making large shields that MACs cannot penetrate - the Grafton could have assumed that the shield was as powerful as that of a starship's and not bothered, electing to save his limited MAC rounds for when the shield was down and he had a guaranteed killshot.

  • 11.14.2010 8:49 AM PDT
  • gamertag: [none]
  • user homepage:

Yes, but thats because the bubble shield has a limited time span and my question is, how can the spire generate enough power to make a shield that could withstand a mac blast while being so small and without any visible reactor.

We know the covenants shield technology is not limitless, their shields need huge amounts of power.

  • 11.14.2010 8:53 AM PDT

On hiding dead bodies:
Posted by: Psuedo
Posted by: teh Chaz
Inside another dead body. It's the last place they'll look
A corpse within a corpse.
CORPSEPTION.
Win.

The Grafton, several hundred feet in the air, had no way of knowing whether or not the shield was powerful enough to repel a MAC round and to be honest, nor did Jorge or 6.

Why waste a MAC that has no effect when you can wait for a clear shot? A clear shot is what 6 got for the Grafton's captain, and he took it.
It cost him his ship and his life, but the Spire was gone.

  • 11.14.2010 8:58 AM PDT
  • gamertag: [none]
  • user homepage:

I think the captain could have worked out that the shield would not be powerful enough to repel a mac round in the first place due to knowledge obtained by the UNSC about covenant shield tech.

Also there were several other spires as well, it wasn't as if it was a one off thing so he would have tried to destroy as many spires as he could, thus he would have had to use macs to do so.

  • 11.14.2010 9:03 AM PDT

Maybe because the Grafton was moving in towards it, they wanted to finish it in one shot so they dont crash into it.

  • 11.14.2010 9:18 AM PDT
  • gamertag: [none]
  • user homepage:

If you look throughout the time you are in the bubble the grafton is not moving at all.

My point is one mac round should have been enough to take down the shield and destroy the spire.
Posted by: Grizzwizz
Maybe because the Grafton was moving in towards it, they wanted to finish it in one shot so they dont crash into it.

  • 11.14.2010 9:25 AM PDT

it could've been due to the need to just blast the thing and get the hell outta there before reinforcemenys showed up (which they did anyway >.>)

It would've taken to long to eat at the shields to get out in time, so they decided to disable the shields for a quick hit and run (that failed anyway <.<)

  • 11.14.2010 9:27 AM PDT
  • gamertag: [none]
  • user homepage:

The UNSC were mounting a full on attack to wipe out the covenant presence on reach, I don't think they were just going to run away...

Also they wouldn't have needed to eat the shields, one mac round should have done the job.
Posted by: ROBERTO jh
it could've been due to the need to just blast the thing and get the hell outta there before reinforcemenys showed up (which they did anyway >.>)

It would've taken to long to eat at the shields to get out in time, so they decided to disable the shields for a quick hit and run (that failed anyway <.<)

  • 11.14.2010 10:15 AM PDT

So do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us...

Wasn't the shield powered by the crusier above it ? Maybe they didn't know the properties of the shield or what the result would be firing a MAC round at it in atmosphere.

  • 11.14.2010 10:35 AM PDT

Whippin' 'nades since aught-2

And why did the Grafton need a near point black shot?

Maybe something to do with a in-atmosphere shot?

  • 11.14.2010 10:37 AM PDT

Posted by:ScubaToaster
Posted by: HipiO7
This man, this man right here put it so eloquently that I actually cancelled my own 2000+ word long post.
/slow clap for respect


:)
The person who said participating is important, not winning, obviously never won anything.

A better question.

Why dint UNSC Grafton shoot the Spire from a bigger distance and not at point-blank?

  • 11.14.2010 10:39 AM PDT
  • gamertag: [none]
  • user homepage:

I think the UNSC knew about in atmosphere shots as they destroyed a corvette with one on ONI Sword Base

  • 11.14.2010 10:46 AM PDT

GROSSMAN: Do you think of the Culture as a utopia? Would you live in it, if you could?

BANKS: Good grief yes, to both! What's not to like? ...Well, unless you're actually a fascist or a power junkie or sincerely believe that money rather than happiness is what really matters in life. And even people with those bizarre beliefs are catered for in the Culture, albeit in extreme-immersion VR environments.

KOTOR

Posted by: HipiO7
A better question.

Why dint UNSC Grafton shoot the Spire from a bigger distance and not at point-blank?


Yeah, if UNSC targeting AI's are so good they can hit a ship moving in space, why did it fly so close to the spire? Surely even the Ship's cook could hit that target?

The other thing I don't get is why the falcon flew through the shield, despite them saying it would EMP them... Why not drop off 6 outside and then provide air support when the shield fell?

Off topic, I love ToTS too, it's got everything that makes Halo Halo, Warthogging around killing all comers, on foot bits, and epic cutscenes.

  • 11.14.2010 10:58 AM PDT

So do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us...


Posted by: NecroGrim
And why did the Grafton need a near point blank shot?

Maybe something to do with a in-atmosphere shot?


Fix'd. Read a book 'Grim, you punk.

[Edited on 11.14.2010 11:29 AM PST]

  • 11.14.2010 11:21 AM PDT

Whippin' 'nades since aught-2

Looks like you forgot to fix 'a in-atmosphere' to 'an in-atmosphere' Dr Grammer-natzee.

Also, reported.

[Edited on 11.14.2010 11:37 AM PST]

  • 11.14.2010 11:34 AM PDT

So do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us...


Posted by: NecroGrim
Looks like you forgot to fix 'a in-atmosphere' to 'an in-atmosphere' Dr Grammer-natzee.

Also, reported.


Also reported for by-passing the -Blam!- filter.

  • 11.14.2010 11:39 AM PDT

Six and Jorge were in the area, and the shield needed to be down before they could be exfiltrated.

They originally went in there to gather intel up-close.

  • 11.14.2010 1:27 PM PDT

Brains beats brawn get used to it

Fear the Red Comet

Variety is the spice of life.
Long live games.
Death to all fanboys.


Posted by: Orphius_Rex
Posted by: HipiO7
A better question.

Why dint UNSC Grafton shoot the Spire from a bigger distance and not at point-blank?


Yeah, if UNSC targeting AI's are so good they can hit a ship moving in space, why did it fly so close to the spire? Surely even the Ship's cook could hit that target?

The other thing I don't get is why the falcon flew through the shield, despite them saying it would EMP them... Why not drop off 6 outside and then provide air support when the shield fell?



First bit probably had to do with positioning by moving up and closer to the other Spires from its initial position, and maybe how MACs work for Frigates on the surface. The same question was brought up as to why the Frigates in Halo 3 had to move close to the stationary Forerunner ship (and subsequently even closer to all the Cruisers in its proximity) when it could've just shot at it while hovering and at a distance.

Second bit was terrain. Look at the approach to the Spire's location. You can't move in there on foot, at least not in an acceptable amount of time to move an offensive forward.

  • 11.14.2010 2:36 PM PDT
  •  | 
  • Exalted Legendary Member

Some can come away from reading "War and Peace" thinking it a simple adventure story, while others can read the ingredients on a gum wrapper and unlock the secrets of the universe.


Posted by: Dr Ninja
Wasn't the shield powered by the crusier above it ? Maybe they didn't know the properties of the shield or what the result would be firing a MAC round at it in atmosphere.


This is the answer. The shields were probably powered by the super carrier. Now prior to the assault, ONI would have probably used certain instruments to measure the power of the shields around the spire. It would have been massive enough to stop a MAC round. Of course ONI did not yet know about the Super Carrier, and would have no clue why the shields were so powerful in the first place.

  • 11.14.2010 3:23 PM PDT

Cave Johnson here, we're done!

PS: If you are reading this comment while imagining my voice, don't panic. That's just a side effect of the testing.


Posted by: Agustus

Posted by: Dr Ninja
Wasn't the shield powered by the crusier above it ? Maybe they didn't know the properties of the shield or what the result would be firing a MAC round at it in atmosphere.


This is the answer. The shields were probably powered by the super carrier. Now prior to the assault, ONI would have probably used certain instruments to measure the power of the shields around the spire. It would have been massive enough to stop a MAC round. Of course ONI did not yet know about the Super Carrier, and would have no clue why the shields were so powerful in the first place.


I doubt that the super carrier could supply power for the structures and cloak itself simultaneously. For them to supply power, they would have to actually give power to each other manually, or by methods that we don't understand, methods that would -blam!- up anything that we have electronically. That and the manually part would have to supply by a tube like fuel source, which they would also have to cloak which would mean they would have to cover the tube in material that can survive shielding, while this is probable, it's still impractical.

Anyone notice how a large portion of the spire is buried underground? Why could they not bury their generator to the bottom of the spire? I mean it has to be buried decently deep to keep that standing properly, and I'm sure that will be enough space to contain a shield generator enough to deflect a small mac round that's fired from a frigate.

So let me remind you that frigate's are relatively small, and that their MAC round capabilities are limited and not fired as fast as mac cannons on destroyers or super mac orbital stations. Which means they pack less punch.

So yeah, generator buried underneath sounds much more probable than one super carrier fueling several spires. Not to mention that since the shield is sufficiently less widespread than one on a covenant frigate, it has less work to spread it out which means it can be fortified to some extent.

  • 11.14.2010 6:40 PM PDT