Wuzum-pattern Spectre

The Spectre is a Covenant ground assault/transportation vehicle.

Overview

The Spectre is a multi-sized, multi-troop armored transportation vehicle of the Covenant military. The Spectre, like many other Covenant vehicles, has the ability to rapidly increase its speed with the aid of propulsion drive but at the cost of great maneuverability. It offers two seating positions for passengers and thus allows them to add to the vehicle's firepower with their own weaponry. However, these seats are completely exposed and as such the passengers are very vulnerable to small arms fire and splash damage from nearby explosions. A protective metal carapace shields the driver’s seat to some extent; the carapace leaves the driver's upper body exposed to potential small arms fire.

The Spectre features a rear-mounted Plasma Turret as its primary armament which is capable of 360 degree firing arc and rapidly depleting an enemy's shield and suppress their advancement due to its high rate of fire. It provides a stable, mobile gun platform for heavy anti-infantry fire and a method of delivering troops into the heart of a battle.

Advantages

The Spectre, similar to its UNSC counterpart, has a much more stable firing platform thanks to its flat and heavy platform design and evenly-placed propulsion drive. Its Plasma Turret is very accurate and has a high rate of fire, delivering a reasonable amount of damage to its target; it is ideal for taking down Banshees, and can be used with success against infantry. The Spectre is capable of carrying an additional passenger in contrast to the Warthog.

Disadvantages

One of many disadvantages of the Spectre is the high vulnerability of its passengers to attacks. While the driver's seat is protected by a metal carapace, the passengers are an open target to small arms fire and splash damage from nearby explosions.

Tactics

The Spectre offers a defensive weapon, a rapid firing Plasma Cannon placed at the rear of the vehicle offering 360 degrees of fire. The weapon is somewhat powerful and can cut through enemy infantry with ease. The turret performs poorly against armored vehicles such as the Wraith and Scorpion Tank where shots fired bounce off but damage is still inflicted on the driver of the vehicle.

Campaign

• Its rapid-firing linear plasma cannon makes it very useful against Banshees, because it is more accurate and fast instead of the normal, slow plasma bolts. On Legendary, a Spectre can be very irritating to a Banshee as it is not easy to hit.
• The Spectre, whilst disadvantaged in speed compared to other vehicles, has its advantages in combat. The Warthog can hold three people, where as the Spectre can hold four. This is a minor advantage, but can be useful as it provides extra fire support, giving the Spectre defense on all sides-especially if the occupants are armed with weapons like Rocket Launchers or Fuel Rod Guns (giving the Spectre a better chance against vehicles).

Multiplayer

• The Spectre is the likely choice for getting to the top of multiplayer maps such as Coagulation and Burial Mounds, thanks to its indefinite boosting ability.
• Similar to the Ghost, the Spectre is an ideal vehicle for splattering enemies
• One excellent tactical strategy is to use the Spectres and other vehicles as a combination like the Warthog and Ghost, for more firepower and protection which is quite effective against groups and a small number of enemy infantry and vehicles.
• Spectres hold one extra player as opposed to the Warthog, a usual favorite for teams. While the Spectre is less commonly used, the extra seat provides advantages for objective based games, such as Capture the Flag.
• The Spectre is also suitable for rapid movement across a map. While players may obtain and stay in a Warthog, the Spectre can be used to carry a small team across distances to be closer to combat.

Production Notes

The first and foremost appearance of the Spectre is in the Halo pre-release, but was later cut out of Halo:Combat Evolved. Though it is exclusive to Halo 2 and the Halo pre-release, early Spectres were seen in the Halo E3 2000 Trailer, but did not make it into the final version of the game. It was replaced by its Brute counterpart, the Brute Prowler, in Halo 3.

Trivia

• If you press and hold A while driving, the air brake will engage. The front end will rise, enabling you to climb some walls.
• In actual gameplay, the turret's shots bounce off of the heavy armored vehicles like Wraiths and Scorpions but they still cause damage to the driver of the vehicle.
• A glitch occurs when two players in the passenger seats have Sentinel Beams. If one player fires their Sentinel Beam, then the other player's Sentinel Beam will appear to fire as well, though this will not drain the second player's battery, and it will not increase the damage. If the second player fires their beam, the only effect on the target will be from them.
• Like most of the other Covenant vehicles, the Spectre is named after some sort of ghost-like creature.
• Given the similarities to the Brute Prowler, it is possible that this vehicle was still used by the Covenant Separatists well into the Covenant Civil War.
• The sound for the Plasma turret of the Spectre was recycled for the Brute Prowler.

Gallery

• 1221710347 Plasma turret.jpg

  A Spectre's plasma turret.

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  A Spectre mounted on the Phantom's undercarriage.

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  The original Spectre present in the E3 2000 Trailer.

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  A Spectre in Coagulation.

• 31.jpg

  Rtas 'Vadum in the turret of a Spectre

Related Pages

• Warthog - UNSC equivalent of the Spectre
• Prowler - Covenant Loyalist equivalent of the Spectre.