Type-52 Infantry Support Vehicle

Template:Ratings

You may also be looking for the spacecraft, UNSC Prowler.

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.

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 fore 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.

Brute Prowler 3 — Two Prowlers combining deadly plasma cannon fire on a target.

The two side-mounted seats on either side of the Prowler turret housing increases the vehicles deadliness. If the passengers are armed with powerful explosive weaponry, such as a Fuel Rod Cannon or Rocket Launcher, the Prowler can effectively take out large armoured 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, or standing, in a cavity in the centre 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 the rear, with the entire bulk of the Prowler in front of him. Though, 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 as are the passengers but can be taken out with a good sniper shot to the head.

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 and Sandtrap.

Advantages

Unlike the Warthog, which is prone to rollovers, the Prowler is incredibly stable, and like the Chopper, it is hard to flip over. The Prowler can also fit one more passenger than the Warthog can. The Prowler is also 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. The Prowler also possesses much more firepower than the Ghost or Chopper, and it has a much larger field of fire. With performance, its main advantage is the fast acceleration to easily escape a team of Spartans in a game of say, Capture The Flag. It also notably accelerates quickly in reverse as well.

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. Compared to the Spectre, the Prowler is not able to strafe left and right, and will not be able to boost like a Ghost. Although the Prowler has more firepower than the Chopper and the Ghost it is not as well suited for direct assaults and splattering, as it is unable to boost. In a head-on collision between a Brute Prowler and a Brute Chopper, the Chopper will normally destroy the Prowler. It is however, in terms of firepower, much weaker than the UNSC Warthog. Also, the driver is prone to about 270 degrees of fire making the driver more exposed.

Combat Applications

The vehicle is a light recon vehicle much like the Warthog, replacing it on certain maps or based upon game settings. It only appears in Campaign mode on the levels The Ark and The Covenant. It has infantry support capabilities, as well as being able to transport four soldiers rapidly across a battlefield.

1216072505 Brute Prowler — A pack of Brutes in a Prowler.

Trivia

On the Halo 3 level The Ark there are two Mongoose by the crashed Pelican that the Marines were intentionally going to use to drive to the control room, but then two Brute Prowlers come in. After the Brutes are killed the Marines take the Prowlers.
The Prowler is the only 'Brute' vehicle that uses Plasma Projectiles in Halo 3.
The Prowler almost exactly resembles an anglerfish, with the front as a mouthful of teeth, the raised turret seat as the anglerfish's signature light, the driver seat as the tail, and the back as the fin.
The Prowler appears to be similar in appearance to a Snow-Mobile or Sand-Mobile. It's also somewhat resembles a boat, featuring a small rudder-like object behind the driver's seat.
This is a vehicle in the Campaign, that you can use to get the Used Car Salesman achievement.
Bungie has yet to disclose and reveal a reason why the Prowler hasn't appeared on any maps in Matchmaking, or on any map by default.
Prowlers are considerably useful in a Custom Infection game and CTF.
The Pilot sees through two eyes in front of the driving seat.
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 tend to do a backflip and kick them out.
Although a prowler is capable of surviving a direct hit from a rocket, it usually results in the death of the driver.
In the Halo 3 news Machinima Inside Halo, Hobo Wrath comments the Prowler being "basically a sled with seats on it" and "the bastard offspring of a Spectre from Halo 2 and the termite- infested dumpster behind my apartment."
The Prowler also closely resembles a shark, most notably a Great White, or the shark from Jaws, as it has lots of sharp things on the front, is designed to tear through enemy resistance, and the back of the driver's seat looks like a shark's tail fin.
It is unknown whether the Prowler will be in Halo wars
Prowlers and counterparts Spectres and Warthogs has seven letters in it, another possible reference to 7
The Prowler is a Halo 3's Spectre as Bungie thought it was silly to have just one Brute vehicle in the game, but there were still probably Spectres in service during the Battle of Voi and around the era after Halo 2
It is possible to kill all the vehicle's inhabitants with one rocket, but it takes 2 rockets to destroy the vehicle entirely.

Images

References

↑ EGM Magazine, September 2007 issue

[1] EGM Magazine, September 2007 issue

[1]