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The Type-26 ASG, otherwise known as the Shade, is the Covenant's standard stationary gun turret and anti-infantry weapons platform.
Overview
The Shade is a Covenant stationary gun turret and is a anti-infantry or anti-air weapons platform, manned in third person like a vehicle. It consists of a sturdy base and a floating, mobile, turret-like seat with control systems for its "nozzle". It first appeared in Halo: Combat Evolved and was a simple turret; an anti-infantry cannon but was lacking any real defensive armor. In Halo 2, the Shade was mostly protected with energy shields at the front of it, similar to a Jackal's. A similar gun to the Shade can be found as a defensive weapon on Spirit and Phantom dropships. In Halo 3, the Shade's shield is replaced with real physical armor, the base is now firmer, and the Shade has a much bulkier reinforced forefront to protect the gunner.
The first known encounter with Shades was during the First Battle of Harvest. Spirit dropships attacked convoys of fleeing civilians as well as a Warthog carrying Johnson and Byrne.
Design and Operation
The Shade gun fires two (three in Halo: Combat Evolved) slow moving, high powered bolts of plasma encased in magnetic fields. The accuracy of a Shade's weapon is fairly low, as the bolts of plasma fired can hit anywhere within the aiming reticule. Since it's designed with infantry combat in mind it is highly effective against Grunts and Jackals, and has exhibited limited effectiveness against Elites (especially at dropping their shields). However, due to their high intelligence, Elites will often find cover and escape the Shade's range of fire. Although the bolts are slow, they can be can be very deadly to those it hits. On this same note, its' shots lack the required punch to damage Hunters, whose armor and combat shield which can withstand most Covenant and UNSC small arms which causes the plasma bolts to have little or no effect on them. It is also fairly ineffective against the Flood, like most other plasma based weaponry.
The Shade offers a wide field of fire and a 360 degree traversal mount. It is highly effective at combating light infantry, has shown a good ability against light vehicles such as the Ghost and in desperate situations can serve as anti-aircraft defense (a few direct hits is all it needs to destroy a Banshee). The Covenant use the Shades nice fields of fire to their advantage and place them at strategic points, where they can do the most damage. They have changed in Halo 3 from Halo:CE.
Advantages
As with its recognizable Human counterpart, the Machine-gun turret AIE-486H HMG, the Shade is very effective against both enemy ground forces and light vehicles. Some of its advantages over the HMG are that the plasma bolts are accurate and effective at longer distances and it is easier to see where your shots are actually going than it is with the HMG’s tracer rounds. In a multi-player game a well-placed observer can help you place hits from the other side of some of the largest maps such as Coagulation. The Shade is also capable of rotating 360 degrees so that you can fire on enemies trying to sneak up behind you. It is also strong enough to withstand a direct hit from a Wraith’s mortar (only if the gunner on it has strong shields or health).
Below, you can see the number of hits you need to make a kill with the Shade. Targets used were on foot and the location on the body where they were hit showed no apparent barring on how many hits it took to kill them. (A normally shielded target took the same number of hits to kill when shot in the legs as when shot in the head) In the case of the Overshield, the target had one at full charge.
Note: This test was performed with the Shade in Halo 2, but damage caused by the 3 models of Shade are roughly the same, so this can also be an estimation of the damage the other models cause.
- Unshielded Target: 2 shots for a kill
- Normal Shielding Target: 6 shots for a kill
- Overshielded Target: 13-14 shots for a kill
Disadvantages
As with the HMG, when you are using the Shade you are extremely exposed to enemy fire and become a target that any good commander will want to eliminate immediately. A single hit by a Rocket or well placed Plasma Grenade will destroy the turret, as will a direct hit from a M68 Gauss Cannon or the main cannon of a Scorpion Tank. In addition, while it is capable of withstanding a direct hit from a Wraith, it will still completely deplete your shields. While it is useful against enemies in light vehicles, this is not a weapon to use when faced with an enemy tank; you will be dead long before the tank is. You are also vulnerable to snipers and scoped weapons. Also, as is the case with the HMG, you are unprotected from the rear, although this is lessened by the ability to completely rotate the turret. It is advisable to have a teammate nearby to help cover you when you are using a turret. Also in Halo 3, the Shade has an extremely slow turning rate, which means it is best to have a friend covering you.
Models
There are 3 models encountered so far in the Halo universe.
Shade (Halo: Combat Evolved)
It was first seen in the E3 demo. The shade first appeared in Halo: CE, and was mostly feared because of its devastating anti-infantry bolts. But however, there were many weaknesses:
- It is possible to snipe a Shade gunner off its turret, but one must aim above the center (which the red reticule usually denotes) and at the user itself, since the Shade protects the user.
- The gunner is highly exposed atop the Shade, with cover only available via the gun mechanism itself. This leaves the operator open to flanking maneuvers and attacks from multiple angles. This poses a serious disadvantage to the gunner, who must rely on infantry support for protection to the sides and rear.
- The turret is not permanently fixed to the ground, supposedly for mobility purposes. Explosives (such as a Grenade) are an ideal way of uprooting the Shade and ensuring it is subsequently out of action. If the Shade is turned over, then it is possible to flip it back upright.
- Some players have been known to melee and grenade these weapons to flip them then hide behind them, as the Shade is indestructible.
- The Shade is, like most plasma weapons, rather ineffective against Flood combat forms.
- The Halo: Combat Evolved Shade was originally intended to be movable, as for the reason it has actual legs. However, it looked unrealistic, so the feature was canceled, although the animation is still there.
Shade (Halo 2)
The Shade returned in Halo 2, where it is referred to as the Shielded Plasma Cannon. It fires slow moving, red plasma bolts similar to the shots fired by a Phantom that do a large amount of damage. To protect the gunner, this turret is equipped with an energy shield, similar to the Jackal Personal Arm Shield. These turrets are featured at the beginning of Delta Halo and are hard to disable due to the protection provided by the extensive shielding. An easy way to go around this is to employ the destructive power of the rocket launcher, or a grenade.The Shade can destroy the shade turrent of a Spirit dropship due to its few slight changes.
Shade Turret on Shadows
- Main article: Shadow
In Halo 2, the turret on the Shadow is very similar in appearance to the Shade in Halo: Combat Evolved. The plasma bolts it fires are more similar to those fired by the Halo 2 Shade. It should be noted that these turrets seem more powerful than the standard Shade in Halo 2, and they offer more protection. The rate of fire is also considerably faster by up to 3 times.
Shade (Halo 3)
In Halo 3, the Shade is often operated by the Grunts, specifically the green-armored Grunt Heavies who are turret savvy. This Shade is the same color as the Type-52 Anti-Aircraft Artillery, and is in the shape of a ball. The Shade, once again, is elevated on a small gravity lift that hovers the turret in the air, and so has a full 360 degree field of view. The Shade is seen in the Halo 3 campaign missions The Ark, Tsavo Highway, and The Covenant. Interestingly, the Shade's aiming reticule was similar to a Needler's, except with a circle of lines at the center, the same reticule design used by modified Shades in Halo Custom Edition. The Shade was in multiplayer only in Halo 3 Epsilon, as it was removed from the final version, even in Forge. There is a popular mod where players over Xbox Live can use the Shade turret in Forge.
Shade (Halo Wars)
The Shade makes an appearance in Halo Wars and is identical to the Halo: Combat Evolved Shade. They are operated by Grunts in campaign only and are used as base defense. They are mostly effective as anti-vehicle.
Tactics
When Using a Shade
- Buddy Up. While this is good advice in any situation, here it is very true as your rear is completely unprotected. Having a teammate nearby to cover your blind side greatly improves your effectiveness.
- Know when to bail out. If you see an enemy tank turning its gun towards you, it is typically a good idea to find some better cover until it moves on, or simply abandon the Shade.
When Facing a Shade
- Find an explosive to throw at them. A tank, rocket, or Gauss round will do the trick. If you are close by and on foot, try sticking them with a plasma grenade.
- Find a scoped weapon. A Battle Rifle, Covenant Carbine, Sniper Rifle, or Beam Rifle will let you take them out with head shots from farther out then they can see you. Of course, if they have a teammate guiding their fire then it would be advisable to eliminate the spotter first and then the gunner.
- In Halo 3 if you shoot a Shade from a distance and in the middle between the two pieces that jut out, the Grunt inside it might jump out.
- For the Shade in Halo Combat Evolved, you can simply walk right in front of the turret at point blank range, the gunner AI will usually just stare at you until you move back into range. However, when manned by a player online, this tactic is useless as they can fire at point blank range.
- Keep circling the turret until you find a part where the gunner's body is more exposed and then open fire.
- A fully charged Plasma Pistol bolt in Halo 3 can prevent the turret from turning. Take advantage of that.
- Don't charge at it openly as it can bottleneck you on certain locales.
- Also, in Halo 3, If you stand right in front of the turret, in between the guns, the Grunt inside won't turn the turret to make you slide in front of it, making you a harder target.
- In Halo 3, you can knock the Shade off its hinges by ramming it with a vehicle, meleeing it, or shooting it, though the previous method takes a long time without explosives.
- In Halo 3, one of the easiest ways to disable the turret is to throw a Power Drain to disable the turret, then quickly melee the gunner.
Comparison
Here is a table comparison of the different shade versions in the Halo trilogy:
| Halo: Combat Evolved | Halo 2 | Halo 3 |
| Protected at all sides with a bowl-like shape | Protected at the front with an energy shield | Superbly reinforced on the front. Sides slightly protected |
| Mobile, can be knocked off its base with a melee | Stationary | Stationary, although the ball can be knocked off. |
| Rate of fire (High) | Rate of fire (Low-Medium) | Rate of fire (Medium-High) |
| Turning speed (Fast) | Turning speed (Medium) | Turning speed (Slow) |
Trivia
- The Shade armament is the same as the Covenant dropship used in that game (Halo CE Shade - Spirit, Halo 2 Shade - Phantom, Halo 3 Shade - upgraded Phantom).
- The Halo CE variant appears in Halo Wars.
- The Power Drain and an overcharged Plasma Pistol shot cannot disable the Shade, though you can still see the electric blue sparks on it when is hit with either of the weapons.
- The Shade doesn't appear in any Halo 3 Multiplayer map.
- The Halo 3 Shade variant's nearly spherical shape is vaguely similar to the Destroyer Droids from the Star Wars trilogy.