Armor Ability

Armor Abilities are exclusive gameplay enhancements featured in Halo: Reach. It is a refined version of Halo 3's Equipment feature where instead of being used once, each ability is reusable, with a cooldown time between uses. These can be accessed through each Loadout before a match is started or during your respawn time. For campaign, the player begins with a specific armor ability at the start of each mission, and is able to swap them out at specified locations. All Armor Abilities are rendered useless to players when transporting objects such as Flags and Skulls. If players attempt to use an Ability, the object simply drops out of their hands. In custom games the cooldown time can be altered and the ability to use armor abilities while holding objectives can be added. Before, it was previously thought that each species can only use certain armor abilities (Elites were thought to be the only ones able to use Evade, and Spartans were the only ones thought to be able to use Armor Lock and Sprint). During the 2010 Comic-con, it was revealed that both species can use all seven Armor Abilities.

Most of the abilities are enabled by a small device attached to the user's lower back, with each ability having a different color, most likely for friendly forces or players to tell which ability the person in question is using at the time. When not in use, these devices also project a hologram that displays a icon of the ability, allowing for quick recognition when switching abilities.

Active Camo
The Active Camo provides players the ability to have Active Camouflage for a period of time, similar to Thel 'Vadam's active camo from Halo 2. The Camo depletes faster if you run, so crouching or slowly walking is ideal for a prolonged period of time. Also, when the player moves faster, the camo will not entirely camouflage the player, but when moving slowly or immobile, the Camo will cover the player completely. It also serves as a Radar Jammer, but this jams the player's radar as well those of their enemies. However, the radar jamming effect is only about 25m, letting one know if someone around them is using Active Camouflage. Allies will not be affected. When the player uses the Camo, all sound is heavily muffled, so it is not as easy to notice a grenade or an opponent shooting.

Its pick-up color is cyan.

Armor Lock
Armor Lock is an ability that provides the player's shield with a massive boost, preventing the user from taking any damage, acting similar to Halo 3's Invincibility. When deactivated, it sends out an EMP blast to nearby enemies, and pushes them away from the player before emerging. Any Plasma Grenades sticking to the user are removed upon activation. Activating the ability can also repel incoming Rockets. It also has the useful ability of being able to push a Falcon out of the sky when standing on it. This also deactivates the vehicle causing it to fall to the ground because of the EMP.The ability can be used by both Elites and Spartans. The human version of Armor Lock is enabled through an external shielding attachment.

This ability also varies with how long the button is pressed: the longer the button is held, the farther the final blast radius will be. This ability not only works against other players, but also against incoming vehicles.

Its pickup color is orange.

Drop Shield
The Drop Shield is a spherical energy shield that functions similarly to a Bubble Shield, but it also heals the health (but not the shields) of the players inside it in a manner similar to the Regenerator. It will deactivate if it takes too much damage. The damage is represented in color stages similar to the Deployable Cover in Halo 3. The strength of the shield is approximately 3 times that of a MJOLNIR MK V's energy shielding. Unlike the Bubble shield in Halo 3, plasma grenades will stick to the surface of the shield. The Armor Ability is known to be used on the Medic loadout in Firefight and Multiplayer. When deploying the Drop Shield, the player crouches into a stance similar to a Armor Lock, but they extend their left leg out. The player can then move and walk through the shield. Activating the Drop Shield fully drains the Armor Ability meter. The Drop Shield expires and deactivates once the Armor Ability meter is at 2/3 full, unless it is prematurely deactivated from damage.

Its pickup color is blue.

Evade
The Evade ability allows the player to roll in any direction to avoid danger, breaking enemy lock-ons and tracking in the process. You can evade two times before having to recharge. The recharge time is like that of the Sprint ability. This was a Sangheili exclusive ability during the Halo: Reach Multiplayer Beta, but it can now be used by both Spartans and Elites. This is the only ability not available in campaign.

Its pickup color is purple.

Hologram
Holographic Decoy is an armor ability that produces an identical holographic copy of the user. It functions by pointing your cursor at a destination and deploying it like other armor abilities. When activated, the hologram will head to the destination and stop if it reaches it. If one points the cursor directly beneath themselves, the hologram will stand perfectly still. This can be used to trick opponents into thinking the player is the hologram. The hologram will flicker away if it is either damaged enough or if it reaches its lifespan limit (10 seconds). To allies it is a white dot on the radar.

Its pickup color is yellow.

Jet Pack
The Jet Pack ability allows players to maneuver in mid-air, with the use of Jet Pack propulsion equipment (UNSC) or an Antigravity Pack (Covenant). The ability varies with how long the button is pressed. If the button is held without releasing, it will deplete continuously, but the player can also use it in bursts which deplete it less than a sustained flight. It is useful for evading vehicles, grenades, and navigating maps. Fall damage still applies to Jet Pack users should they fall from the air.

Its pickup color is white.

Sprint
Sprint allows the player to lower their weapon and move at an increased speed for approximately 7 seconds. Sprint was a Spartan-exclusive ability during the Halo: Reach Beta. When you use the sprint ability you now pant heavily, most likely because of the heavy SPARTAN armor and it can be heard by nearby players. It is the default armor ability in the campaign.

Its pickup color is green.

Tips

 * Hologram is a great ability to use during infection gametypes as it will confuse the zombies.
 * When Playing Firefight, it is often advantageous to have a teammate using the Drop Shield ability. This is due to the fact that this ability will heal wounded teammates without wasting health packs.
 * When using Active Camo, try "crouch walking." This will allow your invisibility to last longer and make it harder for your opponents to see you while you are still moving.

Trivia

 * In the beta, there were some Spartan only abilities like Armor Lock and Sangheili only abilities such as Evade. In the final game, all armor abilities can be used by both models meaning Sangheili will be able to use Armor Lock and Spartans can use the Evade ability.
 * Armor Abilities function similarly to the Arbiter's Active Camouflage from Halo 2, because the HUD indicators are both circles and must be recharged before reactivating the ability.
 * Sprint appears to be Spartan-B312's signature armor ability, as he/she is seen with it at the start of all Campaign missions.
 * When activating Armor Lock and Drop Shield, players enter a pose similar to that of the Master Chief when activating the Bubble Shield in the Starry Night commercial.
 * In both the Campaign and Firefight high ranking Brutes will sometimes use the Armor Lockup when under heavy fire.
 * In terms of canon, the Armor Abilities have only been seen in use during the Fall of Reach due to the fact they were introduced in Halo: Reach as a gameplay element. As Reach was the UNSC's primary military complex, some experimental technologies such as the abilities may have been developed and tested exclusively on the planet, canonically explaining their absence in the other games. In addition, the other games are set in the time period after Reach fell, often having the player as the only Spartan working alongside regular military forces and sometimes with limited military assets due to traveling outside the UNSC's influence on a single starship, while Halo: Reach is centered around a Spartan team on a UNSC fortress world with support and equipment more readily available.
 * There are a total of 7 Armor Abilities in Halo: Reach, another reference to Bungie's favorite number.
 * Skirmishers have the ability to use the Hologram armor ability.

List of appearances

 * Halo: Reach