Qavardu Workshop Prowler
From Halopedia, the Halo wiki
The Type-52 Infantry Support Vehicle (abbreviated Type-52 ISV), otherwise known as the Brute Prowler[1], is a Covenant Loyalist ground vehicle used by the Jiralhanae, featured in Halo 3. It is the Brute equivalent of the Human Warthog and the Covenant Spectre.
Introduction
The Brute Prowler is the designation of the Loyalist's replacement for the Spectre from Halo 2, but this time, driven only by Brutes. The Prowler seems to hover on a gravity-assisted "sled", as the bottom is a pair of metal runners, with an anti-gravity projector running between them. A plasma turret is at the front of the vehicle, while the driver sits in the rear of the vehicle and two passenger seats make up the sides. It's aesthetically similar in its clear-cut, brutal nature to the Brute Chopper. It uses the same anatomy of the anti-gravitational propulsion like the Chopper but it uses two dual engines rotating in opposite directions from each other.
The automatic Plasma Turret is capable of 360 degree movement, making it extremely dangerous as it allows the vehicle to target enemies regardless of which way the Prowler is facing. This makes it very difficult to ambush Prowlers, as a competent gunner will constantly check all directions for enemy movement. Like most other Brute vehicles, it is an effective battering ram. While the vehicle cannot strafe, it is capable of tilting from side to side by using left and right on the left analog stick.
The two side-mounted seats on either side of the Prowler turret housing increases the vehicle's deadliness. If the passengers are armed with powerful explosive weaponry, such as a Fuel Rod Gun or Rocket Launcher, the Prowler can effectively take out large armored vehicles such as Scorpion or Wraith tanks. If the passengers decide to use automatic weapons such as a Plasma Rifle, they can complement the plasma turret and make for an extremely effective weapons platform for cutting down infantry and suppressing light vehicles. It's also effective if passengers are armed with Maulers or Shotguns, as they can shoot any enemy that gets close to the prowler.
Unlike the Warthog and the older Spectre, the gunner is not standing up in the turret, but is sitting in a cavity in the center of the vehicle. The gunner's cavity covers their lower bodies, leaving only their upper back and head exposed. The gun is also in a more central location than the other two vehicles, giving them even more protection. The driver also receives protection from being in the rear, with the entire bulk of the Prowler in front of him. Unlike many other Covenant vehicles, the Prowler lacks a boost function, but it is still fairly fast. The gunner is the most protected on the Prowler, seeing as how the driver is exposed to fire from behind the Prowler and the passengers from the sides and back, but can be taken out with a well-placed headshot.
A key advantage of the Prowler is its stability: one can throw it almost recklessly over jumps and cliffs that would be unsafe, unfeasible, or downright dumb in a Warthog or Spectre. This is mostly due to the "sleds" on the underside of the vehicle. When airborne, the two sleds will extend outward to either side, widening the surface area of the bottom of the vehicle, and therefore making it more likely that it will land in the proper position when it hits the ground. The sleds also seem to allow the Prowler a limited "glide" when making large jumps.
In Forge mode, it can be inserted in the maps Avalanche, Snowbound, High Ground, Sandtrap and Sandbox.
Advantages
Unlike the Warthog, which is prone to rollovers, the Prowler is incredibly stable, and like the Chopper, it is surprisingly hard to flip over. The Prowler can also fit one more passenger than the Warthog can, which lets the crew fight off hijackers with ease. The Prowler is more effective than the Warthog at splattering enemies, and can easily be used as a battering ram. Oddly enough, it appears to cause more damage if you hit the target with the 'teeth' on the sleds (possibly to increase realism, as the "teeth" are more tapered than the other parts of the vehicle). The Prowler is relatively quieter than the Warthog, and provides a smaller chance of giving an enemy enough time to react and save itself if you are splattering it. The Prowler also possesses much more firepower than the Ghost or Chopper, and it has a much larger field of fire. In the realm of performance, its strength is its great speed, which makes it easy to escape a team of Spartans in a game of, say, Capture The Flag. The Prowler Turret is (structurally, not in firepower) stronger than the UNSC Warthog. The design of the Prowler makes it capable of flipping vehicles with ease. It also accelerates noticeably quickly in reverse.
Disadvantages
Although very stable, the Prowler cannot turn as well as the Warthog. The Prowler also provides less protection from the sides and rear for the driver than the Warthog does. The Prowler may be the replacement to the Spectre, but it does not have all of the capability as to the Spectre. Unlike the Spectre, the Prowler is not able to strafe left and right, and is not able to boost. Its main weapon is also slower and less accurate. Although the Prowler has more firepower than the Chopper and the Ghost, it is not as well suited for direct assaults and splattering. Though the Prowler is capable of splattering at minimal velocity, sometimes even being able to splatter enemy vehicles in head-on collisions (much like the Chopper), infantry will have an easy time avoiding the Prowler due to its slow speed and relatively poor handling. It is, however, in terms of firepower, much weaker than the UNSC Warthog. Also, the driver is prone to approximately 270 degrees of fire, making the driver a much easier target for an experienced sniper compared to most other vehicles, which could ultimately leave the Prowler a sitting duck; a perfect target for a Rocket Launcher.
Combat Applications
The vehicle is a light recon vehicle, much like the Warthog. Replacing it on certain maps or based upon game settings is the only way to use it in multiplayer, however. It only appears in Campaign mode on the levels The Ark and The Covenant. It has moderate infantry support capabilities, as well as being able to transport four soldiers rapidly across a battlefield. With two Prowlers, an entire team of eight can travel together.
Multiplayer
The Prowler does not appear on any Halo 3 map by default, but can be added in Forge on certain maps. In Matchmaking, the Prowler appears on alternate Sandtrap map variants Sand Tarp and "Sandtrap Heavy", as well as on the Avalanche variant "Avalanche Heavy".
Trivia
- The Prowler was originally going to be called the Mauler but that name was given to the Mauler gun.[2]
- The Prowler almost exactly resembles an angler fish, with the front as a mouthful of teeth, the raised turret seat as the angler fish's signature light, the driver seat as the tail, and the back as the fin.
- The Prowler can hold the highest number of passengers of any Covenant vehicle in Halo 3; one driver, one turret-gunner, and two riders.
- Prowlers can be very useful in CTF games, because it can carry four people. The driver could drive to the flag's area, the gunner could provide cover fire while the two passengers go in to get the flag, one passenger could cover the flag carrier while they make their way back to the Prowler for a quick getaway.
- The Chopper can only destroy the Prowler from the front, unless it boosts from the air.
- When hijacking the gunner out of his turret from the left side of the Prowler, Elites do a back flip and kick them out.
- It is possible to kill all the vehicle's inhabitants with one rocket, but it takes 2 rockets to destroy the vehicle entirely.
- Despite the menacing spikes on the front, it is incredibly hard to splatter a cunning enemy with the Prowler.
- It is very vulnerable to grenades: in Campaign Mode, a single Spike Grenade will take out both passengers and remove the power armor of its gunner on Normal.
- This vehicle is only in the campaign levels The Ark and The Covenant.
- Some players refer to The Prowler as "The Cadillac" due to the large size, smooth ride, and it's difficulty to flip over.
- It is the only Covenant vehicle that is usable by the player that does not have a boost feature.
- It shares its name with a UNSC stealth ship.
- The Prowler is the Brutes replacement for the Spectre.
- Originally there was going to be a large spike covering the driver from above, but was removed before beta testing.
- Unlike other Covenant vehicles it has mufflers.
Gallery
Two blue Elites on Sandtrap use the Prowler's heavy Plasma Turret to destroy another Prowler.
Two red Elites on a Prowler on Sandtrap.
Sources
- ^ EGM Magazine, September 2007 issue
- ^ The Art of Halo 3, page 157
Links
Internal
- M12 LRV Warthog- UNSC equivalent to the Prowler.
- Spectre- Covenant Separatists equivalent.
