Talon of the Lost

Talon of the Lost
Production overview
Model series:	Type-56D
Type:	Guided Munitions Launcher
Specifications
Ammunition type:	Armor-piercing crystalline explosive projectiles
Feed system:	22 needle magazine
Rate of fire:	480 RPM
Muzzle velocity:	32.31 m/s (106.0 ft/s; 72.28 mph)
Effective range:	Short to medium
Service history
In service:	Post-Covenant War conflicts

"Sangheili miners and engineers continue to discover amazing new properties of the Subanese crystals used in Needler ammunition. Advanced Needler that fires carefully calibrated shards that can embed themselves in armor."

— In-game description

The Talon of the Lost is a special variant of the Type-56D needler.

Overview

Design details

The Talon of the Lost is a named variant of the T-56D GML, upgraded with carefully calibrated red blamite shards that can embed themselves in heavy armor, like those of Mgalekgolo, Promethean Knights, or vehicles. It is a result of the continued work of Sangheili miners and engineers who work to discover more new properties of the Subanese crystals that are used for Needler ammunition.

Chassis-wise, the Talon of the Lost remains the same as a normal T-56D Needler, except that it is no longer colored burgundy. Instead, it now has a white main body color with blue and red stripes and Covenant glyphs decorating the weapon.

Service history

In October 2558, Spartan-II Blue Team encountered a copy of the weapon in a Covenant-occupied area of Genesis that they passed through on their way to reunite with Cortana. The weapon was later integrated into War Games simulations for use by Spartan-IVs aboard the UNSC Infinity.

Gameplay

Halo 5: Guardians

The Talon of the Lost is a special weapon that can be found in the campaign mission Reunion.

Available as a Level 3 Rare REQ that grants 100 REQ Points when sold, the Talon of the Lost has the same base functionality as a normal Needler, except that its needles can embed themselves into heavy armor, like those of Hunters or vehicles. In addition, its shards last for 8 seconds instead of 4, making the weapon more forgiving as it allows players a larger time window for supercombine explosions in case of any missed shots. These advantages make the Talon of the Lost a brutal weapon against infantry, light or medium vehicles like Warthogs and Ghosts, and other heavily armored targets, even bosses like the Warden Eternal. In addition, its low REQ requirements make it a strong early-game or budget power weapon, as it can tear through many bosses and other ground troops easily. This weapon will decimate a Ghost in just 3 supercombine blasts (21 needles) and a Warthog with 4 supercombine blasts (28 needles).

The Talon of the Lost has a hipfire range of 30.56 m (100.26 ft) and a Smart-Link range of 36.66 m (120.28 ft).

The Blood of Suban, White Scar, Sword Needler Warthog, and Razor's Edge all have a similar anti-armor needle effect.

Changes from the Type-56D Guided Munitions Launcher

• Fires carefully calibrated red blamite shards that can embed themselves into heavy armor, like those of vehicles, Hunters, or Knights.
• Needles last for 8 seconds instead of 4.
• Increased supercombine explosion damage.
• Slightly different firing sounds.
• In the campaign, the weapon's shards can now embed themselves into human players.

Gallery

Screenshots

• 

  First-person view of the Talon of the Lost by Frederic-104 in the Halo 5: Guardians campaign.

• 

  Fred-104 with the Talon of the Lost.

• 

  First-person view of the Talon of the Lost in Halo 5: Guardians.

• 

  A Centurion-clad Spartan-IV with the Talon of the Lost.

• 

  A NOBLE-clad Spartan-IV firing the Talon of the Lost.

Halo 5: Guardians REQ cards

• 

  Talon of the Lost.

List of appearances

• Halo 5: Guardians (First appearance)