The Taken are strong versatile monsters. Today's talk will include one of our previous talks is the Taken Phalanx. These guys also show up I believe as corrupted and/or consumed. Either way they are "critical" to the taken ranks. As with the normal Phalanx their shield is immune to regular attacks. Unlike the normal Phalanx though, the Taken Phalanx leaves himself open to attacks. This open has a trade off as his shield is a weapon. He doesn't bash with it, but in fact shoots a mildly damaging attack that does a knockback. Recall the talk about how a normal Phalanx swings in or out with his shield and in doing so can cause you to hit the wall as fall damage. The same applies here. In tight spaces this attack can force you into places that your Guardian body should not fit. In open areas it can send you flying backwards way out of the fight. In areas with drop offs or hills, this attack can kill you from fall damage or going over the edge. Now one shield isn't too bad, but add two or three more shields doing the same thing and now you will have issues. A good example of this trouble would be Entropy's Pinnacle. When facing off against the Echo of Oryx, he summons quite a few of these Taken Phalanx. I was blown off the top of the pinnacle that I had no way of ever returning at all. Needless to say, I was pissed. Luckily the attack is only used when in melee and has a cone AoE up to several meters. When these taken monsters show up they are typically in groups of three-five. When engaging against taken on patrols, on Mars, I notice that they will spawn as sets of three one group at a time. If you get into the thick of things and are near these guys, mop them up quick. When the boss Taken shows up he will summon two-three groups of these guys at a time with four-five in each set. They like stay close to the boss as well. Making if difficult to close in on either target. They do moderate weapon damage and also summon a orb that will track you down and explode doing heavy damage. Good thing about these, you can shoot them to get rid of them. Be mindful these orbs can strafe around to avoid incoming fire. Between the orb, their normal attack, and the shield attack it can be difficult to close in or move around. How to handle: They are relatively weak. A few good shots puts them down. Use their openness to your advantage. When they summon an orb it should be your priority. If you must get close try to avoid getting hit by the shield attack by jumping all the way over them or get behind a solid structure. Grenades work good and super abilities are a good way to wipe out groups at a time. Though they normally don't, they will smack and punch, so melee at your discretion. No Grimoire for this Monster. I will see if killing these guys counts for the Cabal Phalanx.