Kig-yar Sniper

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"The only thing worse than Jackals are Jackals with sniper rifles!"

— Marine about Jackal Snipers

Jackal Snipers are the most unusual of their species, and were first seen in Halo 2.

Background

Jackal Snipers do not use Jackal Personal Arm Shields, as they are unwieldy for snipers and block their views (though they carry them in Halo Wars). Oddly, they still wear the gauntlet. They wield long range weaponry, serving as the Covenant's answer to the UNSC Marine sharpshooters. They are usually hidden and are only noticed when the bolt from their Beam Rifles or Carbine is emitted or they are given away by the purple light on their mask. When they turn on their Beam Rifles a shining sound is heard.

The Covenant Beam Rifle is a very powerful sniper weapon. On Easy and Normal, the Beam Rifle will take your shields down in one shot. On Heroic or Legendary, however, a single shot will kill you instantly. If you approach a Jackal Sniper, he will drop his beam rifle, pull out a plasma pistol, and retreat.

Appearances

File:Carbine Jackal.jpg

Jackals are also seen wielding Carbines in Halo 3.

Jackal Snipers appear commonly in Halo 2 and Halo 3, and can be quite frustrating and dangerous if you are playing on higher difficulty levels. On Legendary, these Snipers are quite accurate. Sometimes they miss the first shot but almost never miss the second. The Beam Rifle delivers a one hit kill. Most of them often snipe from hard to reach places, such as ledges, cliffs, and occasionally large branches on trees. They are easily seen however, in Halo 3, as their headpieces glow purple. The player can use this to their advantage, as it gives away the Jackal's position.

Halo 2

• Outskirts and Metropolis- Jackal Snipers swarm over rooftops and set-up Gravity Platform Towers. Later in the more congested parts, they crawl all over Human-made platforms such as roofs and balconies.
• Delta Halo and Regret- Many Sniper Jackals are on the Forerunner structures to assist other Covenant troops and help prevent the UNSC forces from finding the Prophet of Regret.
• Gravemind and High Charity- Sniper Jackals, along with other Jackal ranks, side with the Covenant Loyalists and help them take out Covenant Separatist forces. They hang back to engage in long range combat. They also fight Master Chief when he comes across them. Later when the planet was infested by the Flood, a few were seen alive struggle to defeat the Flood.
• Uprising and The Great Journey- Jackal Snipers are seen throughout the two levels. On the last level they support other Jackals in an effort to stop the Arbiter and his allies from advancing.

Halo 3

• Sierra 117- Several Jackal Snipers wielding Beam Rifles and Covenant Carbines take several positions guarding the jungle from UNSC forces.
• Crow's Nest- A few are seen inside the base mostly wielding Carbines to support the other Covenant troops from a distance.
• Tsavo Highway- Some Jackal Snipers take positions on Gravity Platform Towers to support Covenant Infantry and Armour against UNSC Forces.
• The Ark- Numerous Snipers are placed throughout the sand dunes on parts of the Ark and some wielding Carbines were seen in the Cartographer facility.
• The Covenant- They are seen defending the three shield barrier towers. Later, they were seen on a few Gravity Platform towers assisting Covenant vehicles in preventing the UNSC and Separatist forces from entering the Ark's Citadel.The Storm: A few Jackal Snipers are assisting Grunts that are guarding the AA Battery.

• Ghost Town They are not actually seen, but you can hear them turning on their Beam Rifle and Carbines if you listen closely.

Jackal Snipers shooting with their Carbines.

Killing Jackal Snipers

File:1218738807 Sniper Jackel2.jpg

A Jackal at watch.

The best way to kill a Jackal Sniper is to use a Beam Rifle, Sniper Rifle, Battle Rifle, Carbine. The Automag can be used in Halo 3: ODST for a possible instant kill (if you shoot them in the head).You can also throw a Plasma Grenade or a Spike Grenade on them. However, since they are usually perched high away from your position, a grenade stick will require near perfect accuracy.

File:Sniperdies.jpg

A Jackal Sniper dying.

Unlike all other Jackals, Jackal Snipers are slow but have compact bodies. The Beam Rifle or Sniper Rifle is the best weapon to use on them because you can kill them with one shot.. Make sure you take cover as they can kill you with a single shot on higher difficulties. Switch to an automatic weapon such as the Plasma Rifle or the Assault Rifle and blow away any retreating Jackals. The SMG is not very good, however, because of its low damage rate. On Legendary, and sometimes even Heroic, Jackals can be extremely hard to counter-snipe. Most weapons will be completely useless unless several rounds are fired into the skinny body Shots to the beak are always instant kills. They pick out targets quickly, and you may only have a second or two to line up and fire before they shoot you first. Blindly shooting at them is useless, because the chance of hitting their skinny bodies with a blind shot is very small.

Jackal Snipers often snipe from well covered Gravity Platforms. When they do, it may often be best to just destroy the platform. If you don't have sufficient firepower, try to go up the gravity lift and engage the Jackal in close combat. You can often destroy the Gravity Platforms with one Plasma Grenade.

One way to kill Sniper Jackals is to get close to them without getting spotted and start shooting or meleeing them. This should be easy, due to their lack of shields.

Trivia

Jackal Snipers first made their appearance in Halo 2.

• In Halo 3, the Jackal Snipers sport helmets with a personal scope attached to the left eye. This scope shines a vivid purple light that actually gives the Sniper's position away.
• It is possible the eyepiece they wear impedes their aiming, but increases vision.
• In a Bungie interview, they stated that Jackal Snipers in Halo 2 were too dangerous and too accurate. To even the game out a bit more, Bungie made the Jackals' aim less accurate in Halo 3 then it was in Halo 2.
• The Jackals with Carbines are better known as "Marksmen" Jackals.
• In the Halo 3 Multiplayer level Ghost Town, you can hear the sound of Sniper Jackals turning on their Beam Rifles, if you listen closely.
• A good way to snipe Jackals without using sniper ammo is to use a Battle Rifle. Just simply aim at their head and shoot.
• In Halo 3, the Sniper Jackals mainly carry Carbines, and are not very accurate. Because of this, they are considered less hostile.
• The Jackal Sniper was featured in the first series of McFarlane's action figures.
• On Easy and Normal difficulties, Sniper Jackals can be found mostly using Carbines, but in Heroic and Legendary, they use the Beam Rifle far more often, and their aim is better.
• Jackal Snipers in Halo 2 do not have the eyepieces seen in the above pictures.
• It is stated on the Bungie site that only battle hardened veterans are selected to become Jackal Snipers. This could suggest that as well as being a special type of rank, Jackal Sniper is an elevated rank either for Jackal Majors (i.e. the next promotion) or in between Jackal Minors and Jackal Majors. However, their duties do not tend to involve commanding other troops.
• If you look at a film, when they first raise their weapons, their shield generators float for a moment.
• In Halo 2 Vista, if a Jackal Sniper drops his beam rifle, he will then hold his Plasma Pistol as if he was still holding a Beam Rifle.
• In Halo 3: ODST Jackal Snipers are actually less deadly on Legendary than they were in Halo 3. One shot from their Beam Rifles will drain your Stamina and most of your of health, but will not kill you instantly like in Halo 3.
• Jackal Snipers armed with Beam Rifles in Halo 3 can occasionally fire two rapid consecutive shots, instead of pausing for a few seconds between shots like in Halo 2. This is extremely dangerous, since if both shots connect it will kill the player instantly.
• Jackal Snipers still have their shield gauntlets. In some instances when the player gets too close, the Jackal will drop their Beam Rifle, take out a plasma pistol and run away.

Sources

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