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The Spectre is a Covenant ground assault/transportation vehicle. On first impressions, it could be considered analogous to the Warthog, if only in Covenant design and style.
Introduction
The Spectre is a multi-troop armoured transport. It is a medium sized vehicle but maintainst the high manueverability most Covenant vehicles are renowned for. While slow (slower than the Ghost, faster than the Wraith), it can easily move while in confined spaces such as a tight box canyon (see The Great Journey).
The Spectre's main weaknesses are a slow acceleration and speed, and that its occupants are fairly exposed. The rear-mounted plasma cannon is very dangerous, and can rapidly deplete an enemy's shield. The turret gives the advantage of a 360 degrees firing arc. It can be considered as the Covenant version of the Warthog. It has the capacity to hold two passengers, a gunner, and a driver.
Spectre in Combat
The Spectre, although slow, like other Covenant vehicles has the ability to rapidly increase its speed with the aid of a booster. It can do this at the cost of maneuverability. The Spectre offers one defensive weapon, a rapid firing Plasma Cannon placed at the rear of the vehicle offering 360 degrees of fire. This particular cannon is unlike any other in the Covenant arsenal, instead of 'glob' of magnetised plasma the weapon appears to fire a beam. In this respect it has more in common with the Covenant Carbine than a Plasma Cannon, however it may be that the plasma is simply moving very fast, and therefore appears as a streak of blue instead of a glob. The weapon is devastatingly powerful and can cut through infantry with ease. However against vehicles it fairs poorly. The rounds fired actually bounce off of Wraith and Scorpion armour doing minimal damage.
It offers two seating positions for passengers and thus allows them to add to the vehicles firepower with their own weaponry. Theses seats are completely exposed and as such the passengers are very vulnerable to small arms fire and splash damage from nearby explosions. The drivers seat is shielded by a protective metal carapace. It leaves the head of the driver exposed however and as a result leaves the driver prone to being sniped.
The Spectre is much larger than the Ghost and thus heavier, as a result it flips less often as a result of grenades and other explosions. It provides a stable, mobile gun platform for heavy anti-infantry fire and a method of delivering troops into the heart of a battle. Its main advantage is probably (like most other covanent vehicles) it can turn 360 degrees while still in the same spot, unlike the warthog which has to keep moving to turn.
Use in Multiplayer
It is generally disliked in Multiplayer due to what is conceived as a weak gun in comparison to the Chain Gun of the Warthog. The cannon lacks power against un-shielded opponents, so once an opponents shield is down, a player tends to need to jump out of the Spectre and engage their enemy on the ground. It's overall slow speed when compared to other vehicles in multiplayer such as the Ghost and Warthog is also deemed a disadvantage especially in objective based games.
Also the passengers, gunner and driver are very easy to snipe off of their positions due to their overly exposed nature. This is a further disadvantage in comparison to the Warthog which offers better protection coupled with greater speed and maneuverability, making sniping it's occupants a more difficult endeavour.
Deployment
The Spectre, as with all Covenant land based vehicles, is delivered via dropship. So far only the Phantom has been seen to do this, but Spirits may be equally as capable.
Halo 3
It is still unknown if the Spectre will be in Halo 3, this is unlikely because it will most likely be replaced by the Brute Prowler.But in retrospect, if it really was removed from the final cut of the game, this would leave a hole in the storyline. The Elites(Separatists in general) would be missing a multiple person All Terrain vehicle, as the Marines have the Warthog and the Brutes have the Prowler.
Conceptual Design
It seems that during the creation of Halo: Combat Evolved the Spectre was a vehicle that Bungie had in mind but ended up on the cutting room floor. At the time it seems to have been called the Shadow. It can be seen in the Halo E3 2000 Trailer.
Character Compatibility
Trivia
- Without modding or Action Replay saves, you can only see marines get in your spectre on The Great Journey (Level). To see how to do this, check HighImpact Halo
- If you press and hold A while driving, the air brake will engage. The front end will rise, enabling you to climb some walls.
Related Links
- Warthog - UNSC equivalent of the spectre