The Type-33 Light Anti-Armor Weapon[1], also known as the Fuel Rod Gun, is a Covenant indirect-fire mortar with ground and air applications that appears in all three games of the Halo Trilogy, although with minor changes in appearance. It is occasionally wielded by higher-ranking Grunts, and often wielded by higher-ranking Elites and Brutes. It is known that some versions are equipped with a "dead man's switch" similar to that of the Energy Sword, most notably in Halo: Combat Evolved.
Introduction
In Halo 2 and Halo 3, it had no fail-safes, allowing the player to pick up the weapon in Campaign. All of the incarnations of this weapon fire bolts of deadly radioactive incendiary plasma that explode on impact with targets or surfaces, and some variants are equipped with homing rounds. Unlike many Covenant weapons, most incarnations of the Fuel Rod Gun fire ammunition that comes in clips of 5 Fuel Rods. Up to 25 additional Fuel Rods can be carried for a total of 30 shots. The weapon's projectiles arc very slightly due to gravity, unlike the human Rocket Launcher, so one must aim slightly above the target to effectively use the weapon in long range firing.
Appearances
In Halo: Combat Evolved, the Fuel Rod Gun is purple, with a gray muzzle and green energy bar on its left side. It is used solely by Grunts in the campaign, however, only Special Operations Grunts and Major Grunts are seen with the deadly weapons. It was impossible to pick up discarded Fuel Rod Guns from enemy corpses in the Halo: Combat Evolved campaign, as there were fail-safes that made the weapons self-destruct with the force of a Fragmentation Grenade. However, they had the blast radius of a Plasma Grenade. These fail-safes were stripped away in Halo PC multi player.
In Halo 2, the Fuel Rod Gun had been given a major appearance change, with the body now a shade of yellow and the battery replaced by clips of 5. This powerful weapon is mostly found on the level The Arbiter, where the Heretic Grunts make extensive use of the weapon. Outside of this level, it is very hard to find, although higher ranked Elites and Grunts will use this weapon against you to great effect. The Fuel Rod Gun is not available in Halo 2 Multiplayer due to frame-rate issues.
In Halo 3, the Fuel Rod Gun underwent drastic changes. The blasts are weakened to 65% of their previous strength, to compensate for the cannon's large number of rounds per clip, fast rate of fire, and the noticeably lessened distance that the rounds fall en route to the target. Also, when fired, projectiles are affected by gravity at a much higher degree and now need time to ignite after being fired from the cannon and failure to give the rounds proper distance to accomplish this will result in a ricochet if a non-enemy surface is struck at an angle. In Halo 3 it has a slight homing feature on vehicles and is devastating when used against slow moving tanks. In campaign, if given to an AI controlled ally they will also get the bonus of the weapon's rounds homing in on enemy foot soldiers. Shots from an enemy's Fuel Rod Gun will home on you and your allies to a degree. It becomes increasingly difficult to dodge in higher difficulties. It can still get you if you only try to step to the side. It was wielded by Grunts, War Chieftains and Brute Captains (Majors and Ultras only) in Campaign. However, if you do catch a Brute with an "FRG," gamers call it, they are your first priority, they can and will give you a miserable/embarrassing death.
It is also worth noting that the weapon does not appear by default in any multi player maps nor in Matchmaking, and thus is only seen if placed on a custom map by using Forge.
Usage
The Fuel Rod Gun is the Covenant counterpart of the M19 SSM Rocket Launcher. It is mainly used as an anti-vehicle weapon, but is sometimes used as an anti-personnel weapon. It fires glowing green bolts of radioactive incendiary gel that travel to the target in a parabolic arc. This indirect line of fire makes the Fuel Rod Gun often a difficult weapon to wield, yet can be useful if your target is hiding behind a wall or other object.
In the PC version the Fuel Rod Gun is rarely used. It runs as another battery operated weapon and overheats for a while after five quick shots. Indirect hits will barely be effective, and direct hits are nearly impossible. But it has the ability to partially stun a hit target, so a bombardment can take out one, but leave the wielder vulnerable for too long to live. Also a variant, the Fuel Rod Cannon is used as a secondary weapon on Banshees, that are commonly called Banshee Bombs. The Fuel Rod Cannon is also used in the AA rounds on an Anti-Air Wraith. In Halo 2 and Halo 3, the Fuel Rod Gun was widely changed. The weapon is gold in color, and can be reloaded. The overheat feature has also been removed. The Fuel Rod Gun's projectiles now arc less, and track slightly over long ranges, but are also significantly slower in speed.
Combat Tactics
Advantages
The Fuel Rod Gun fires faster, and reloads at a slightly faster rate than the Rocket Launcher while holding much more ammunition. The Fuel Rod Gun has a limited lock-on ability; its projectile follows targets in the air. While easy to avoid at long range, the 2x scope of the cannon can allow for an accurate original blast and increased chance to catch the victim in the explosive radius.
The high ammo capacity, rate of fire, and damage of the Fuel Rod Gun makes it a force to be reckoned with, and its better then the Rocket Launcher in personnel fights, having barely any splash damage, more ammo (2.5x more). In campaign mode giving your allies (Elites especially) the Fuel Rod Gun gives you a massive advantage over your enemies. On levels like the Arbiter and Uprising an Elite with a Fuel Rod Gun can fire the 5 bolts in quick succession with surprising accuracy. This can easily eliminate a group of foes even on Legendary difficulty. The fact that allies have unlimited ammo makes this valuable as well. This is opposite for giving Grunt allies the Fuel Rod Gun, however, due to their lack of shields, if they happen to fire a Rod too close to themselves. But however, Grunts holding Fuel Rod Gun tend to fire rods slightly more often and "wilder" than Elites.
Other advantages include a ricochet effect at wide angles, while firing parallel to a wall the shots can "skip" off. To obtain an effect the angle has to be obtuse and the person firing must near parallel to the targeted wall, this however does not cause the shell to explode but instead sends it off in a new predictable trajectory. You will not be affected by it ricocheting off the ground because its arc will extremely diminish the effect. The ricochet effect will only work before the fuel rod has "ignited".
It can be fired from behind cover, so it is very possible to kill enemies without them being able to hit you.
Map recommended in: Construct, Epitaph, Guardian, (maybe) High Ground, and Narrows.
Disadvantages
The Halo: Combat Evolved Fuel Rod Gun, doesn't have a tracking device, like the bolts of the Plasma Pistol (which are semi-homing), and its bolts are slow. At long range, you have to aim high and it normally, takes multiple bolts to kill a hostile, as a curtain of fire has to be laid down, and the overheating of the Fuel Rod Gun is not conducive to streams of radioactive fire. At short range, however, a single direct or almost-direct hit can take down someones shield, killing an enemy with two hits.
Furthermore, the large size will often obscure one's vision, making it harder to see who's there to kill the wielder of this ungainly weapon.
Additionally, when used at close to medium range the user should take caution (just like the Brute Shot or the Rocket Launcher), careless players have a good chance of taking damage from their own fire.
Also, if you hit a target at close range before the mid air blast, their shields will be completely depleted, where as the Rocket Launcher will usually get a one hit kill.
Finally, you will have to take gravity into account when using it. Unlike the Human counterpart, the Rocket Launcher, it obeys the laws of Gravity (because it has a relatively low velocity) and will curve.
Hunter Variant
- Main article: Hunter Fuel Rod Variant
Hunters also brandish a variant of the Fuel Rod Gun. These work differently than other versions of the Fuel Rod Gun because it can fire in multiple modes, rather than just firing single bolts. In Halo 2 and Halo 3, these shoot out streams of gel. A Hunter's immense strength nullifies the weight of the weapon. In Halo: Combat Evolved, their cannons fire explosive bolts, like the troop-carried model. The Fuel Rod variant is integrated into a Hunter's armor, so the weapon cannot be obtained.
Multiplayer Tactics
The Fuel Rod Gun is wieldable by the character only in Halo PC multiplayer, not in Halo: Combat Evolved Campaign nor multiplayer, and neither Halo PC campaign.
Being an effective suppression weapon, a common tactic in multiplayer Capture the Flag is to bombard the enemy base from afar with a Fuel Rod Gun. Furthermore, the gunner can fire from a position obscured from enemy view, owing to the indirect-fire properties of the Fuel Rod Gun. Since the view of the targeted area is mutually obscured from the gunner's position (due to having to compensate for the arc and having to aim high), such is unlikely to kill a player, but it is intended to at least deal cover fire for an assault on the flag, and most likely to inflict damage on the flag carrier. Note that the Fuel Rod Gun's splash damage is similar to the ones of a Rocket Launcher. If fired at very close range, the projectile will most likely to harm the player slightly.
An easy way to dodge the blast is simply to sidestep, where as when the user overheats the gun, the opponent will most likely take the opportunity to fight back.
The high ammo capacity, rate of fire, and damage of the Fuel Rod Gun makes it a force to be reckoned with.
One useful tactic is to fire in a star or fan effect making it harder to dodge. Also in at a high point it is also useful to fire in a strait line towards an enemy vehicle, like bombs from a jet.
UNSC Remarks
- “Those things are scary as hell. Ya hear that weird “whump” sound and even if ya see it comin' you're transfixed—these big green blobs flying at you throwin’ off sparks!”
- “It’s so weird. I don’t know who first called it a Fuel Rod Gun, but it’s kinda funny. I suppose the projectile is reminiscent of how you might expect to see a nuclear fuel rod depicted in a gee eh cartoon—all glowing green and throwing off sparks.”
- “They’re pretty tricky to handle—first off you gotta get over the fact that there is this glowing, green explosive whatever right next to your head; and it’s not like you can require any more ammo for the damn thing—but you can lay down a whole lotta hurt in a very short amount of time I’ll tell you that.”
- “The Type-33s have more in common with the ballistic weapon on the Banshee than it does with the weapon that the Hunters carry around—well, not carry around, but you know what I mean.”
- “I catch a glimpse of green out of the corner of my eye and then there’s this huge “whoomf” and the ‘Hog goes end over end burning with Gaz still at the wheel. I was riding shotty with the em forty-one so I just unlatched and pushed off when we started going up into the air and there went the ‘Hog and Gaz and all our gear cart-wheeling into the ravine.”
Character Compatibility
Trivia
- When you kill a Grunt with a Fuel Rod Gun in-hand on Halo: Combat Evolved, it is impossible to grab. Upon the Grunt's death, the gun will emit a stream of green hazy smoke then explode after a short delay, making it a hazard for anyone in the immediate area especially if there are dropped grenades nearby as the explosion sets off loose grenades.
- The Fuel Rod Gun has screws in it, probably implying that the Covenant use screws and screwdrivers, technology that was probably taken from human technicians.
- On the level The Covenant, there is a ammo case with a Fuel Rod Gun in it. It is in a tunnel when you're breaching the Citadel. There is also one by the third tower hidden up in the hills to the right of the tower.
- When using the Bump Possession cheat in Halo: Combat Evolved to control a Hunter, holding left click down and repeatedly right clicking allows the controlled Hunter to rapidly fire its Fuel Rod Gun without overheating. Whether this accelerated manner of attack is actually utilized at all in AI controlled opponents' behavioral patterns is unknown.
- The shots fired from the Fuel Rod Gun in Halo 3 are more powerful than the ones fired from an AA Wraith.
- Elites cannot spawn these weapons by default, except in Halo 2 in level Gravemind where one of the three Ultras in the Mausoleum of the Arbiter will use one on the Brutes.
- There is a discrepancy about how much the weapon actually weighs. In Halo: First Strike, Corporal Locklear had difficulty lifting the gun when he attempted to shoulder it. However, Grunts seem to have no problem hefting the gun around in Halo: Combat Evolved, so whether the situation is between the gun's weight or a comparison of Grunts' and Marines' strengths is unknown. It is strongly believed, however, that Grunts are in fact stronger than their size lets on. Also, the model of the Fuel Rod Gun used in Halo: CE and First Strike might have been heavier than the most recent varients.
- When you give a Fuel Rod Gun to a Marine, their animation is the same as if they were holding a Rocket Launcher. If you look closely, their left hand is at an angle, just like holding a Rocket Launcher.
- In Halo: Combat Evolved (PC) Multiplayer, as you expend Fuel Rod ammo, a bright green bar on its side will shorten. However if you switch it for another weapon, you will see that it has full ammo on the ground.
- In Halo 2 during campaign mode (most likely on Legendary difficulty), the bolts have a slight homing ability. Only enemies have this ability. If you strafe as the wielder fires upon you, it will turn very slowly into your direction. In Halo 3, it also has a slight tracking ability, but this time it is the player and allies only who get this ability.
- In any Halo 2 level that you play as the Arbiter, if you give a Grunt ally a Fuel Rod Gun, the Grunt will perform a little dance, or will start laughing crazily. Also if you watch their arm the Grunt will do a strange cocking motion during which his arm will go through the weapon and extend by about a foot.
- The Fuel Rods fired by this weapon resemble the ammunition of the Covenant Carbine, only of a larger fraction in size and damage. The Carbine ammunition is also notably faster, probably in exchange for power.
- The Fuel Rod Gun's projectiles will ricochet if they strike a hard surface before igniting, or if shot at a surface in close range the projectiles would ricochet. This effect is present in Halo 2 and Halo 3.
- The Hunter's Fuel Rod Cannon from Halo 3 behaves more like the Fuel Rod Gun From Halo: Combat Evolved due to the fact it doesn't fire a "full" beam like the previous Fuel Rod Cannon from Halo 2.
- Grace-093 was almost killed by the gun's fail-safe system in Halo: First Strike.
- In Halo: Combat Evolved (PC) Multiplayer, if viewed in third-person, the Fuel Rod melee is sometimes choppy.
- When pulling out the Fuel Rod Gun from your secondary weapon slot, you will notice that the front most nozzle extends slightly. This could be a feature on the weapon that allows it to compact slightly for easier storage and taking up less space.
- In Halo PC, the gun's barrel will retract into the weapon when fired. Whether this is the firing mechanism or a recoil compensator is unknown, but the gun has very little recoil on the hands of the Spartan, supporting the latter.
- In Halo PC, a Spartan with 400% shields and health can take seven direct hits from a Fuel Rod Gun.
- In Halo 3 it is possible to bounce the Fuel Rod Gun's shot up to two times off of walls before it will contact and explode on something.
- The Halo 3 bounce feature of the Fuel Rod Gun can be utilized to an expert player's advantage. It is possible to bounce the shot around corners without coming out of hiding, and can even be used to kill enemies such as snipers without putting yourself in their line of fire. Note that these tactics require extreme precision, thought, and taking into account angling and game physics. However, with much practice, this tactic could save you from a few deaths in your next match.
- In Halo 3, the weapon's ammo casing now has black tips on either end of the tubes, whereas in Halo 2 it was just a solid fluorescent green.
- This gun, like the Needler and Beam Rifle, has many aesthetic markings on it that are not Forerunner symbols, yet seem to be important in Covenant culture.
- It is considered too strong to be included in Matchmaking.
- The Fuel Rod Gun was for the first time usable on the Campaign level The Arbiter.
- The Fuel Rod Gun isn't included in Halo 2 Multiplayer because it was rendered too powerful.
- In Halo: CE if there is an incoming Plasma Grenade and it hits the side of a Fuel Rod Gun, the Plasma Grenade will bounce off.