Excavator
From Halopedia, the Halo wiki
An Excavator is an equipment or tool for excavation or mining into the terrain.[1]
Overview
UNSC
Military-grade MFODs (Medium Fusion Destructive Devices), such as the HAVOK, FURY, and FENRIS, are portable nuclear devices that are most commonly used for excavation and mining.[2]
Covenant
In addition to excavation beams commonly employed by Covenant starships,[3] an Excavator is a class of walker constructs established by the Covenant and later used by its remnants.[1] As their name implies, vehicles of this class were used as excavators and mining platforms. Excavators were also used by the Covenant as heavy weapon platforms, mobile bases, and combat engineering vehicles.[4]
The Excavator class encompasses several lines of vehicles, including the Harvesters, Locusts, and the comparatively ubiquitous family of Scarabs. Excavators often make extensive use of Lekgolo, with the worm colonies bound together with the vehicle's control systems. The Lekgolo were rarely given complete control of an Excavator, and a supervising Covenant officer and military personnel usually accompany the vehicle.[4] The Lekgolo meta-colonies that operate Harvesters from within are known as the Sbaolekgolo.[5]
Forerunner
Forerunner Excavator Sentinels work inside the foundry of Installation 00 to prepare and manufacture Halo ringworlds.[6][7]
Banished
The Banished use a variety of excavation equipment that leaves little inaccessible, even against Forerunner materials that is usually resilient against conventional excavators. The flame-bore notably is capable of outputting plasma at levels similar to those of a capital-grade excavation beam, albeit on a smaller scale.[8] During the Battle for Zeta Halo, a flame-bore was modified by the Harbinger to pierce Forerunner alloys in Installation 07's superstructure.[9][10]
Tiers
All Excavators were organized by the Covenant into several tiers, each one indicating a walker's size, excavating efficacy, and delicacy. Nine tiers of Excavators are noted in records that survived the Covenant Empire's collapse in 2552, though humanity has only encountered three as of 2558.[4]
- Tier-one: Shua'ee-pattern Locusts are designated as tier-one Excavators,[4] designed primarily as offensive tools with no apparent Lekgolo operators.[11]
- Tier-four: All members of the Scarab "family"—including the R'awaw-pattern, Sumda'te-pattern, Protos-pattern, and Deutoros-pattern — are classified as tier-four Excavators,[4] often deployed as mining platforms or assault vehicles.[11]
- Tier-five: Za'zayara-pattern Harvesters are tier-five Excavators utilized during large-scale excavations.[5]
Production notes
An additional excavator walker was prototyped for inclusion in Halo 5: Guardians, as a central focus of the cut level "Reef City".[12]
Gallery
A Deutoros-pattern Scarab and two Shua'ee-pattern Locusts in Halo Wars.
A Banished flame-bore excavating a tunnel through Forerunner alloys in Halo Infinite.
The front of a small excavator employed by the Banished in Halo Infinite.
The rear of a small excavator employed by the Banished in Halo Infinite.
A tunnel in Site Novem created by a small excavator in Halo Infinite.
List of appearances
Sources
- ^ a b Halo Encyclopedia (2022 edition), page 278
- ^ Halo Encyclopedia (2022 edition), page 185
- ^ Halo Encyclopedia (2022 edition), page 261
- ^ a b c d e Halo Waypoint, Scarab (Retrieved on Oct 30, 2021) [archive]
- ^ a b Halo 4: The Essential Visual Guide, page 130
- ^ Halo Encyclopedia (2022 edition), page 343
- ^ Halo Encyclopedia (2022 edition), page 356
- ^ Halo Encyclopedia (2022 edition), page 441
- ^ Halo Infinite, campaign mission Connections: Excavation Site
- ^ Halo Infinite, Banished Audio log: Outpost Intel #06 - Secrets Below
- ^ a b Halo Encyclopedia (2011 edition), page 254-255
- ^ Twitter, Jayce Diaz (@Jayce_Face): "Wish I still had in-game footage of it because a LOT of work was done on animating it destroying parts of the city. I don’t even have the animated stub in work I did or footage of how you fight it :-( Goodnight, sweet Tyrant." (Retrieved on Oct 28, 2023) [archive]
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