Armor customization (Halo 5: Guardians)
From Halopedia, the Halo wiki
Armor customization in Halo 5: Guardians allows players to customize their Spartan player model. These armor sets can be obtained by getting to a certain rank in the game along with unlocking achievements in Halo: The Master Chief Collection and obtaining armor in REQ packs. Unlike Halo 4, armor customization in Halo 5: Guardians is limited to the helmet, armor, and visor. In addition, new armor permutations were released post-launch via REQ content updates as was the case for Mark IV and Mark V sets, for example.
Overview[edit]
Halo 5: Guardians features more customization slots than launch Halo 2: Anniversary, yet, features much less than Halo 4. The three slots available for armor customization include the Helmet, the Armor, and the Visor with previously player decided armor pieces (such as legs, wrists, and shoulders) being determined by the base armor the player chooses. Aesthetically, the armor of Halo 5: Guardians is based upon the MJOLNIR Powered Assault Armor [GEN2] model, much like Halo 4, and also allows for armor skins, enabling further unique customization options. Halo 5 doesn't allow the player to switch to an Elite, be it for multiplayer, Forge, or custom games.
Unlocking armor can be done in a few potential ways; for example, earning achievements present in Halo: The Master Chief Collection such as "Legend", which grants the player Helioskrill armor. It should be noted that armor unlocked by achievements in The Master Chief Collection were later able to be obtained in the general REQ pool.
The Halo Channel app on the Xbox One platform also allows players to unlock Nightfall armor by watching Halo: Nightfall's five episodes. This could be done as early as November 11, 2014, which allowed for the armor's use in the Halo 5: Guardians Multiplayer Beta, alongside Helioskrill, and two variants of Mark VI (GEN1).
Another method of unlocking permutations involves the use of REQ packs, which provide randomized armor and visor unlocks to the player, among other things. Certain REQ packs also exist that can grant truly exclusive armor to the player. These include the HCS pack, which contains a specific variant of Athlon armor known as "Champion", and the Halo World Championship 2016 pack, which was only available if the player watched the event on a stream with their Xbox Live account linked to said stream during a certain time frame. This pack gave out the Challenger armor. Both the Athlon's Champion variant and Challenger armor are exclusive to their specific REQ packs and aren't in the general pool.
In February 2017, a special REQ pack known as the "Classic Helmet REQ pack" was released as a standalone purchasable item containing nine helmets: Mark V Delta, CQB, Recon [Gen1], Military Police, EOD, Pilot, Operator [Gen1], Security [Gen1], and EVA [Gen1]. These nine helmets were not a part of the general REQ pool, much like HCS branded items.
Achilles armor follows a unique unlock trend, as it requires the completion of the 31 "Kill" commendations that are available to Spartan companies. Upon the completion of level 3 for all "Kill" commendations, the body armor for Achilles is granted to the player, and upon the completion of level 5 for all, the helmet is granted. With the release of Halo 5's "evergreen" season, and the cessation of support for older elements of Halo Waypoint, Achilles armor was made inaccessible at the end of 2021 as challenges involving companies could no longer be completed.
List of customizations[edit]
Armor[edit]
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Visors[edit]
| Visor color | |||
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| Visor | Name | Rarity | Description |
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Blindside | Common | Description: Frowned upon by UNSC-staff officers, the Blindside VISR sacrifices strategic situational awareness for improved performance in small-unit actions. Manufacturer: Imbrium Machine Complex |
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Cyan | Common | Description: Too expensive to be universally deployed, Cyan VISR hardware is protected against electromagnetic interference, shock and corrosive atmospheres. Manufacturer: Hannibal Weapon Systems |
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Envy | Common | Description: Envy VISR's were developed by extreme sport enthusiasts on Mars. Through proven in environments far harsher than UNSC specifications required it took years to overcome anti-military sentiment in the boutique development house that made them. Cost: REQ pack |
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Foucault | Common | Description: The Foucault VISR represents a major policy shift in the UEG towards allowing smaller corporations to compete in the paramilitary, military, and security markets. Cost: REQ pack |
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Frost | Common | Description: With its integral climate module and multi-layer insulation the Frost VISR assembly can function in extreme temperatures and exotic cryogenics atmospheres. Manufacturer: Lethbridge Industrial |
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Recruit | Common | Description: Visual Intelligence System, Reconnaissance (VISR) software manages the Spartan's disparate sensor feeds, battlenet links, and suit diagnostic messages. Manufacturer: Hannibal Weapon Systems |
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Vandal | Common | Description: Even when Spartans lose, the Vandal VISR ensures they do it with style and panache. Cost: REQ pack |
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Beltane | Uncommon | Description: The Beltane VISR can be easily monitored by an AI over the battlenet, allowing the operator to focus on difficult tasks without compromising situational awareness. Cost: REQ pack |
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Clockwork | Uncommon | Description: The Clockwork VISR is a piece of technical art, appreciated as a masterwork of programming and engineering by the handful of AI and human experts who understand the complexity of Mjolnir HUD design. Cost: REQ pack |
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Ecto | Uncommon | Description: The pattern-matching subsystem of the Ecto VISR can be set to look for specific hyperspectral and multi-modal sensory traces, a useful function when tracking stealthy xenomorphs and transient electronic whispers. Cost: REQ pack |
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Gallows | Uncommon | Description: Made for special forward observation teams operating in quarantine zones, failsafe charges in the Gallows VISR will destroy the helmet (and everything in it) in case of compromise. Cost: REQ pack |
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Glacier | Uncommon | Description: Tested by hostile environment teams on a dozen frigid worlds, the Glacier VISR is the first choice for any Spartan expected to operate in cryogenic atmospheres. Cost: Req Pack |
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King | Uncommon | Description: The first King VISR was an enigmatic artifact produced as a one-off by a bored Huragok. Subsequent attempts to copy the design have been met with varying levels of failure. Cost: REQ pack |
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Midnight | Uncommon | Description: Materials Group uses Midnight VISR as the basis for their next-generation battlespace management software, but proper use requires significant technical expertise. Manufacturer: Materials Group |
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Sluagh | Uncommon | Decription: A small percentage of SPARTAN-IV candidates experience augmentation defects. Those related to vision can usually be corrected with implants or custom HUD's such as the Sluagh VISR. Cost: REQ pack |
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Solar | Uncommon | Decription: The Solar VISR upgrades focus specifically on target acquisition speed, combat identification, and interoperability with UEG law enforcement networks. Cost: REQ pack |
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Sunspot | Uncommon | Description: The Sunspot VISR system utilizes a dedicated deconfliction agent which effectively curates the deluge of information competing for the Spartan's attention. Manufacturer: Acheron Security |
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Verdant | Uncommon | Description: Verdant VISR has been updated to comply with the latest industrial cyberlink standards, as well as expanded support for legacy interfaces. Manufacturer: Naphtali Contractor Corporation |
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Autumn | Rare | Description: The Autumn VISR if a flawless example of software engineering and ergonomics. Approaching rampancy has inflamed its designer's auteur tendencies, resulting in a baroque design barely understandable even by other AIs. Cost: REQ pack |
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Buckingham | Rare | Description: Unofficially tolerated, the Buckingham VISR is a privately developed data management suite sold only to active duty UNSC personnel. Cost: REQ pack |
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Burgundian | Rare | Description: It is not yours to understand why. Nor are you authorized to understand the subtle complexities and allure of the Burgundian VISR and its manifest menu options. Cost: REQ pack |
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Connected | Rare | Description: Developed by the avionics maintenance team aboard the UNSC Infinity, the Connected VISR's display elements can be replaced with only basic tools and minimal training. Cost: REQ pack |
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Dianthus | Rare | Description: The Dianthus VISR kit was discovered by ONI operatives in the arms markets of Venezia. It's unclear who is manufacturing these VISR sensor elements or how widespread they have become. Cost: Pre-order Halo 5: Guardians at Best Buy or REQ pack |
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Dynasty | Rare | Description: The first VISR systems date back to the early 21st century, alternately bloating in complexity and paring down to bare-bones HUD management since then. The Dynasty HUD is an example of the former, with dozens of embedded quality of life apps. Cost: REQ pack |
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False Dawn | Rare | Description: Initial research and development for the False Dawn VISR promised an entirely new approach for head-up displays. Unfortunately, it will requires years of work on neural interfaces to make full use of the technology. Cost: REQ pack |
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Flood | Rare | Description: As the name implies, the Flood VISR is built specifically for Spartan assessment and containment teams deployed to Forerunner sites that may house samples of the all-devouring parasite. Cost: REQ pack |
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Independence | Rare | Description: The Independence VISR was created by a team of UNSC maintenance personnel as a personal project. After the code was leaked to the net it has become the unofficial base for several independent HUDs. Cost: REQ pack |
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Mad Dog | Rare | Description: Mad Dog VISR overlays lack even the most rudimentary image sanitation functions so that Spartan operators see only the rawest, most unadulterated view of the battlefield. Cost: REQ pack |
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Matrix | Rare | Description: Created for field technicians tasked with on-site cyberintrusion, the Matrix VISR has a custom built interface for managing networked AI's and friendly kill systems. Cost: REQ pack |
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Muse | Rare | Description: Powered by the latest in polymorphic software agents, the Muse VISR may represent a breakthrough in semi-autonomous nonsapient assistants for Spartans. Cost: REQ pack |
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Primeval | Rare | Description: The Primeval VISR is a throwback design created after data archaeology efforts recovered novel branches of the first Mjolnir VISR codebase in burned-out Damascus Materials Testing Facility computer cores. Cost: REQ pack |
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Reflection | Rare | Description: The Reflection VISR was created for pioneers delving into the welkin realms of slipspace, tapping into experimental sensors and probes to translate strange vibrations and trace energy patterns into some semblance of order. Cost: REQ pack |
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Regnum | Rare | Description: Feature creep, ruinous cost overruns, and accusations of corruption notwithstanding, the Regnum VISR features the best threat management subsystem on the market. Cost: REQ pack |
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Royal | Rare | Description: The Royal VISR features a translation system and local database of hundreds of human languages, many of which are now throught extinct after the Covenant War. Cost: REQ pack |
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Torchbearer | Rare | Description: Torchbearer VISR's are tailored for use by UNSC Army pathfinders. Cost: REQ pack |
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Unbreakable | Rare | Description: Built from the latest composites and reverse-engineered Covenant technology, the Unbreakable VISR can survive even when the surrounding helmet is torn asunder. Cost: REQ pack |
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Wild Hunt | Rare | Description: Proven on the means streets of Earth's megaplexes, the Wild Hunt VISR has a custom optical recognition application used for decoding gang signs and other underworld symbology. Cost: REQ pack |
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Armorer | Ultra-rare | Description: A game changer for field operations, the Armorer VISR features its own augmented reality maintenance and diagnostic playbook that can walk Spartans through troubleshooting and basic repairs of most UNSC equipment. Cost: REQ pack |
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Aureus | Ultra-rare | Description: Containing dozens of useful functions for unaugmented users, the Aureus VISR is used by many new Spartans before they transition to more specialized HUDs. Cost: REQ pack |
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Aurora | Ultra-rare | Description: The designer of the Aurora VISR claimed it could see the unseen and visualize phenomenon outside of human comprehension. Cost: REQ pack |
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Dauntless | Ultra-rare | Description: Sangheili sourced high-tier nanolaminates and scanning elements make the Dauntless sensor grid and faceplate outrageously expensive even by Watershed Division standards. Cost: Buy Master Chief-based Halo 5: Guardians wireless controller or REQ pack |
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Dusk | Ultra-rare | Description: The first Dusk VISR was created in the resource-strapped final days of the Covenant War. Among its design goals were engineering refinements that drastically reduced the need for rare earths and other strategic metals. Cost: REQ pack |
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Expedition | Ultra-rare | Description: Built and ran through the harshest testing regime offered by the UNSC, the Expedition VISR can occasionally remain intact even if the rest of the helmet is destroyed around it. Cost: REQ pack |
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Greystone | Ultra-rare | Description: The Greystone VISR's unsettling advertising campaign featured Spartans standing on lifeless rocks at the edge of long-dead stars, staring into the void. Cost: REQ pack |
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Ichor | Ultra-rare | Description: The Ichor VISR's threat database is able to identify, index, and inform on all matters related to biohazards. Cost: REQ pack |
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Remembrance | Ultra-rare | Description: The protective outer coating of the Remembrance VISR is coated with materials recycled from glassed colonies. Cost: REQ pack |
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Resolute | Ultra-rare | Description: Open source records indicate the Resolute VISR is customized for integration with the Artemis threat analysis and tracking hardware. Cost: Buy Spartan Locke-based Halo 5: Guardians wireless controller or REQ pack |
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Rime | Ultra-rare | Description: Rime VISR HUD's are fully compatible with all UNSC radar, ladar, and sonar imaging sensors. Cost: REQ pack |
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Saturnine | Ultra-rare | Description: The Saturnine VISR hardware is fully compatible with Sangheili combat harness power and data feeds, leading some to believe it's intended for export. Cost: Pre-order Halo 5: Guardians at Amazon or REQ pack |
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Secrets | Ultra-rare | Description: ONI Section Zero's used their experience with managing complicated intelligence data networks to inform the Secrets VISR design and functionality. Unfortunately there is little doubt that secret backdoors were placed in the code. Cost: REQ pack |
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Tenebrae | Ultra-rare | Description: Tenebrae VISR systems are intended to be used in conjunction with imaging radar, ladar, and other systems that allow tactical operations to be conducted in the complete absence of visible light. Cost: REQ pack |
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Vespertine | Ultra-rare | Description: Leaked development documents for the Vespertine VISR's next firmware upgrade show superior augmented reality performance and interactivity. Cost: REQ pack |
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Abyss | Legendary | Description: The galaxy is full of wonder and danger in equal measure. The Abyss VISR uses Subtle augmented reality tricks to reduce the Spartan's exposure to psychologically stressful visual stimuli, ensuring peak performance in even the most traumatic environments. Cost: REQ pack |
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Daybreak | Legendary | Description: The reflective coating on the Daybreak VISR is specifically designed to mitigate damage to sensitive optics in the case of viewing atmospheric nuclear detonations. Cost: REQ pack |
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Legendary | Legendary | Description: The Beta-5 Asymmetrical Action Group has adopted the Legendary VISR for their Spartan units, albeit with custom plugins developed by ONI's internal teams. Cost: REQ pack |
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Mithral | Legendary | Description: Mithral VISR systems have been a staple of exploration teams that delve deep under the surface of resource-rich worlds. Cost: REQ pack |
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Pendragon | Legendary | Description: Ruinously expensive, only a handful of private armies can afford the cutting-edge Pendragon VISR and associated software licenses. Cost: REQ pack |
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Rampant | Legendary | Description: With its proprietary set of software extensions, Beweglichkeitsrüstungsysteme hopes to position the Rampant VISR as the de-facto standard for integrating with Forerunner sensor systems. Manufacturer: Beweglichkeitsrüstungsysteme |
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Rex | Legendary | Description: The Rex VISR proved exceptionally capable of identifying optical associated with Jiralhanae active camouflage systems. Prototypes were used by UNSC Marines units to track down Brute holdouts on Earth and Tribute. Cost: REQ pack |
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Scoundrel | Legendary | Description: The Scoundrel VISR was created for use by ONI field operatives but has since made its way to the criminal underworld and into Insurrection hands. Cost: REQ pack |
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Starfire | Legendary | Description: Records siphoned from the Forerunner ship buried under the ice at Babd Catha informed the Starfire VISR architecture, but it will be decades before even a fraction of the site's archived secrets are decrypted. Cost: REQ pack |
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Strife | Legendary | Description: When monomaniacal focus on a limited set of targets is needed, the Strife VISR can be fitted to augment existing predictive tracking capabilities. Cost: REQ pack |
Gallery[edit]
Concept art[edit]
Early concept art for multiplayer customisation.
Concept art of various miscellaneous potential armour sets.
Concept art of various miscellaneous potential armour sets.
Concept art of various miscellaneous potential armour sets.
Concept art of various miscellaneous potential armour sets.
Menu images[edit]
Customization in the Halo 5: Guardians Multiplayer Beta.
Customization user interface in Halo 5: Guardians upon the game's launch.
Customization user interface in Halo 5: Guardians in the present day.
All the armor variants at launch.
Screenshots[edit]
Halo 5: Guardians Multiplayer Beta[edit]
Some of the armor variants in the Halo 5: Guardians Multiplayer Beta.
Multiple Spartans with various armor permutations on Eden in the Halo 5: Guardians Multiplayer Beta.
A Spartan using RECRUIT-class Mjolnir in the Halo 5: Guardians Multiplayer Beta.
Halo 5: Guardians multiplayer[edit]
Various armor variants and colors, used to promote the Hammer Storm update's new user color selection.
Multiple Spartans using different armor permutations on Coliseum in Halo 5: Guardians.
A Spartan using the more esoteric BREAKER-class Mjolnir on The Rig in Halo 5: Guardians.
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