Energy projector: Difference between revisions

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[[File:Halo3_E3_TRAILER_2007_720p30_ST_6300Kbps_002_0001.jpg|thumb|300px|A {{Class|CCS|Battlecruiser}} firing an Energy Projector.]]

{{Article Quote|The titanic vessel Keyes had seen before was back. It fired its brilliant blue-white beam - a lance across space - that struck the destroyer Herodotus, one hundred thousand kilometers distant. The beam cut clean through the ship, stem to stern, dissecting her.<ref name="for">'''[[Halo: The Fall of Reach]]''', page 320</ref>}}

The Energy Projector was first encountered during the [[Battle of Harvest]], where it was used by a [[Covenant Battleship]], a ship that was seen for the first time. It is more frequently seen several years later, where [[Regret's Carrier]] uses one to destroy the [[Prophet]]'s temple after he had been assassinated by the [[John-117|Master Chief]] on [[Installation 05|Delta Halo]]. In [[Halo 3]], parts of Eastern Africa, Kenya and the city of [[Voi]] were glassed by [[Rtas' Vadum]] to stop a [[Flood]] infestation.

The weapon can fire a thin beam of extremely powerful and energetic particles. It is possible to predict when it was about to fire as it typically charges the beam up before firing. The beam has an effective range of over 100,000 kilometres. It is described as looking like pulse lasers, but tinged silver white, which is compared to the scintillation effect that is seen when a Covenant ship's shields are hit. The long range allowed a ship armed with this weapon to 'snipe' targets during ship-to-ship combat, albeit less effectively. The weapon has been observed to gut UNSC ships from stem to stern, such as the Frigate [[Gettysburg]] over Reach.<ref name="for"/><ref>'''[[Halo: First Strike]]'''</ref> It also seems to be able to expand in size, depending on the size of the ship.

The Energy Projector's beam is able to take down the shields of a [[Covenant Frigate]] or [[Covenant Destroyer]] with a single hit.

Against UNSC vessels, the weapon was able to pierce dozens of [[Titanium-A]] armor layers with comparative ease, rendering any form of physical solid defense useless. Therefore, a single hit or perforation could potentially disable or destroy vital systems, such as the MAC Cannon or engines, rendering the ship useless for combat (as seen at the [[Battle of Earth]] when a single shot from an [[Assault Carrier]] crippled a [[Marathon-class cruiser]]), or if the shot was in a critical area, such as the reactors of a ship; it could destroy the ship completely.  

The beam is similar to the [[Particle Beam Rifle]] on a larger scale in how and what it fires. It is also speculated that the beam can be focused to varying degrees. In space, they can be focused to a smaller, therefore more powerful beam generally used to decimate enemy ship fleets from afar. It also seems to drain all or most of the energy in a Covenant ship for a brief period unless the ship is big enough to supply the power without too much of a drain. This weapon is also used for glassing enemy planets.

 

When glassing a planet, the beam causes atmospheric and biospheric destruction by exciting the atoms in the air, thus scorching land and air life, and evaporating water with ease, suffocating aquatic life and destabilizing the planet's surface temperature. Therefore, merely firing it through the air would cause biospheric destruction on a planetary scale. In addition, the excitement of atoms could chemically alter the atmosphere or even blow it away. The combined effect can make the planet permanently inhospitable to life, as was the case with [[Harvest]].

According to [[Fred-104]], only the "big ships have them." Ships of the {{Class|Reverence|Cruiser|}}, the [[Covenant Supercruiser]], and the [[Assault Carrier]] were known to wield this weapon. Other large ship classes, such as the Covenant Supercarrier, are very likely to have it too. The [[CCS-class Battlecruiser]] have them too, albeit they have only two projectors, located under the ships bow, and under its middle.  

The '''Cleansing Beam''' is a variant of the Energy Projector used specifically as the Prophet of Regret's Leader Power in ''Halo Wars''. An orbiting vessel "[[Glassing|glasses]]" the planet's surface, and can destroy almost anything. The weapon's capabilities can be upgraded to increase power and supply usage at the [[Temple (Covenant)|Temple]]. The upgrades are named ''Regret's Sentence'', ''Regret's Doom'', and ''Regret's Condemnation''.

 

To use it, the player must select the Prophet of Regret and use up their supplies as they hold the '''Y''' button. They then can use the Left Stick to move the beam around the Prophet's field of view. The Cleansing Beam can damage all units, including the Covenant forces; however, Regret himself cannot be damaged by the beam.

*The weapon's beam has a similar appearance to the Particle Beam Rifle's Beam, and also has a similar purpose: To land a precise shot into critical areas of the enemy, and works using the same principle: accelerate small amounts of mass to near light speed to burn through human ships or human heads respectively.  

*In ''Halo Wars'', the color of the Energy Projector is based on your team color.

*Even though the energy projector is capable of cutting through the armor of several UNSC ships at a time, it is seen as only a needle thin beam going at light speed.

File:AC Cargobay.jpg|Large Covenant ships, such as the [[Shadow of Intent]], have their Energy Projectors located on their underside.

File:Mombasa Glassing.jpg|A Covenant Assault Carrier glassing New Mombasa in ''[[Halo 3: ODST]]''.