Phalanx

"Remember, they have to take a shot sometime."

— Grimoire description

Phalanx are a type of Cabal military rank. They are similar to Legionnaires and carry big tactical shields,^[1] acting as a mobile defensive front, holding their ground or pushing forward at will; they have no jump-jets.^[2] Besides blocking attacks, Phalanx shields are dangerous in melee combat. A single hit can send Guardians flying, which will cause damage if they crash into a solid object. This is strong enough to kill Guardians on higher difficulties.

Gameplay

On their own, Phalanxes aren't particularly threatening, but that doesn't excuse them from being time-consuming to kill. The shield they carry covers a big portion of their body, which is only made worse by the fact that the shield is fully immune to most weapons. Occasionally, a Phalanx will plant down their shield to fire their Slug Rifle in rapid succession with a good degree of accuracy. Otherwise, it will slowly corner a Guardian until it gets into melee range, which is where a Phalanx is arguably at its most deadly, considering the fact that they have two different melee attacks.

The first attack is a shield swing that is hard to dodge and does a decent amount of damage when it hits. The other melee attack is far more devastating: if within range, a Phalanx will lunge shield-first into its target; this will either outright kill the player (which happens in most cases), or deal heavy damage and send them flying into a wall, causing them to die of impact with a hard surface (which happens if the player has a high armor build). For this reason it is recommended that Guardians dispose of them quickly before they get to close; flanking them, throwing a grenade behind them or shooting their exposed arm are all good ways to finish them off.^[3] Splash-damage from Rocket Launchers or Interceptor rockets can also deal with them quickly.