The Needler was the only Covenant weapon in Halo 1 that had ammunition; all the other weapons had batteries that drained and became useless to the player.

In single player it was useful for taking out Elites; in multiplayer it was thought too weak, with projectiles that were too slow and too easy to dodge.

In Halo 2, the Needler's projectiles are supposedly faster and pack more punch, although some players have reported that Needler rounds slowed between the E3 2004 and final builds of the game.

The Needler can be dual-wielded and fires in semiautomatic and automatic modes.