Pike

A Pike is a Fallen land-based attack vehicle. It is traditionally ridden by Dregs, though it can be captured and used by Guardians as well. Larger and heavier than the Sparrow used by most Guardians, the Pike is primarily used by Fallen forward scout teams, or to secure terrain objectives.

Overview
The Pike is a single-pilot vehicle, which, like most Fallen vehicles, seems to heavily implement scavenged and reclaimed technology. The fuselage of the Pike is long, with a reinforced tail strut that features a pair of large maneuvering vanes. Powerful engines, likely based on or salvaged from those of decommissioned starships, carry the vehicle at speeds roughly equal to a Sparrow. The Pike also features high-powered maneuvering jets on the sides to allow the Pike to make short bursts of speed to the left or right, giving it limited dodging ability and improved ability to perform maneuvers.

The Pike features a number of unique advantages all its own - it has an armored chassis that can take quite a bit of abuse, and it boasts a pair of Shock Cannons in the nose of the craft, right in front of the windscreen. Communications, weaponry controls, and sensors are all located in a panel right in front of the saddle. A reinforced windscreen protects the pilot from debris and even limited small-arms fire, but it cannot take a huge amount of abuse and tends to break quickly if targeted directly. Due to its heavier mass, the Pike tends to roll over far less often than the Sparrow, and its maneuvering jets can be used to save it if it takes a tumble without needing to dismount.

Pikes in Combat
Pikes can be obtained by the player in several ways - they spawn in during Crucible matches, and can be seen used by the Fallen, specifically Dregs, during missions or encountered as part of a patrol or encounter.

Naturally, Pikes offer the player certain tactical advantages than if they were on a Sparrow; fast, maneuverable, and well armed. The forward mounted Shock Cannons possess an incredible fire rate, dealing large amounts of Arc damage downrange, but their fire rate drops when fired for long periods. Controlled bursts might be a workable strategy. In addition, the Pike's mass allows it to physically ram opponents and the the driver is quite well protected at the front, save for the sides and rear which leaves them vulnerable to precision attacks.

Pikes are also an excellent counter to Fallen Walkers. The tank's slow speed and predictable attacks makes it easy for an alert player to literally run circles around its bulky weaponry, all while savaging the weak spots until it is finally destroyed.

Against the AI
Pikes controlled by the Fallen are deceptively dangerous. It's easy to see the Dreg piloting one and expect a minor threat where they might become quite a force multiplier; the Shock Cannons make a Dreg out-damage your average Captain, so fighting smart and exploiting terrain is important.

Against Players
Player-driven Pikes tend to adopt a predatory mindset - you cannot beat a Pike in a damage race without the right equipment. More skilled Guardians, however, tend to use their maneuverability to circle-strafe targets and use it's dodge abilities to side-step potentially heavy damage. Avoiding direct confrontations and preventing enemies from locking you in a killzone are some of the ways to avoid getting shredded by Pike fire.

Counters
Special and Heavy weapons are virtually a necessity for fighting Pikes; grenades like the Magnetic Grenade and Lightning Grenade are great for dealing with them as well. If one is available, an Interceptor or Turret is the best way to deal with a hostile Pike.

Ideally, shooting the rider is usually the better option as the Pike can then be used against your foes.

Locations

 * First Light
 * Bastion
 * Forgotten Shore
 * Archer's Line
 * Winter's Lair

Trivia

 * The Pike was the first land-based vehicle revealed to the public, appearing in both the Reveal Trailer and in concept art released during the Reveal Press Conference.
 * The Pike fires on a hair trigger as well as fully automatic. Once the automatic rate of fire plummets, you can rapidly pull the fire trigger to increase rate of fire manually.
 * There is also a heavy version of the Pike that fires slower, heavier shots and has the ability to deploy shock mines using the strafe buttons. They make an appearance in the House of Wolves DLC in the first available mission, and are possible replacements for the standard Pikes in the Winter's Run Strike on Heroic difficulty.