- last post: 01.01.0001 12:00 AM PDT
Before we start, keep in mind that this guide would not even be close to possible without the help of the Hitchhikers, considering that they gave me valuable insight, good suggestions, and a great, friendly place to work, if you want to see them, go here .
----------------------------The Needler---------------------------------------
When you read this guide, I assume that you know * The Needler is a close range weapon only.
* When 7 or so needles are on the target at once, they explode simultaneously.
* If you fire at hard surfaces (jackal shields, vehicle dash boards etc.), the needles will bounce off.
Anyway, for target practice I recommend anywhere with lots of Elites and Grunts, although target practice is hardly required. A good spot would be T+R, because when you first go up into the ship, there will be quite a few enemies, including jackals you could (attempt) to shoot at behind their shields, because it will teach you techniques to flanking, such as jumping over, faking out, speed circle strafing, etc.
The next thing is ammo consumption. If you empty a full clip into every Grunt you see, you'll have to resort to the needler's awful melee quickly (More on the melee after a bit). You need to learn how many shots for what enemies on what difficulties. If you can learn not to over shoot (waste ammo) or under shoot (not kill the target), you will easily learn to beat the covenant, flood and maybe sentinels. This is VITAL that you do not waste ammo, considering the low ammo that you get. For example on easy it takes about 40 needles to take out a Hunter, 4-6 for a Grunt, 10 or so for an Elite, and about 3-6 for a Jackal.
The melee. The needler has a bad one, so get good at swinging to the back for instant kills. The 2 exceptions to the no melee rule are * In the back hits * jackal shield hits.
Now, for multiplayer. In multiplayer, you will have to be accurate because players oftentimes dodge needles, so you'll have to get quite close for it to be effective, as always, but especially now. Be careful when playing against players who are good at recognizing audio sounds, considering that the needler makes a very distinct sound when you melee that almost anyone can point out.
The person who would use the needler is the kind of person that makes themselves be heard, such as barging in, and loading a clip into the crowd, or being sneaky, by dropping down, and firing into the opponent's head, or firing into their back when they're not looking. Anyway, there is no holding back, because if your opponent is armed with a pistol, etc., you might die anyway, but if you fire at your first chance, they might get enough needles embedded in them to get the large explosion, and that is your goal.
The worst nightmare for any person using the needler is an opponent with a shotgun, which not can, but will kill you at your comfortable range. There is no real solution to this, but you can try to needle them until right before you die, and then you can * Do a grenade reflex, so that you both die, or * run like heck and hope to live.
Now, for some of the harder enemies, such as vehicles and hunters. For hunters, don't forget to unload lots into their backs. Now, when you are facing a scorpion, you would run anyway, unless you had a SPNKr (rocket launcher). For Warthogs, try to kill the gunner as it drives past, and then the driver. Now you have your own Warthog. Vs. Ghosts, you should hit and run . After enough passes, if you are still alive because you took cover, then now you have * A wrecked Ghost if Campaign, or * A free Ghost if split screen.
Now, for the Banshee, RUN! When it flies past, thinking that you died from that fuel rod shot, you duck out, and unload a full clip, then, * if it explodes, then move on, or * if it doesn't, HIDE.
There you have it, a great way to beat people with needlers, how to use them, the disadvantages, the advantages, and everything else you need to become a professional needleer.