Armor effects

Armor effects are a special customizable option in the Armory in Halo: Reach. Armor effects are visible in all gametypes, though they are not displayed in cutscenes.

On January 2020, when Season 4: Reclaimer was released in Halo: The Master Chief Collection, it made them available to use on the Elites. In 2021, it was revealed Season 7: Elite will make Halo: Reach's Armor effects available to use in Halo 4.

Death Effects

The following effect occurs when the player is killed.

Birthday Party

• Effect: When a player dies, confetti explodes out from their body and a clip of children cheering ("Yay!") will play. This effect is extremely similar to the Grunt Birthday Party skull from Halo 2, Halo 3 and Halo: Reach.
• Trivia: The clip of sound is a sample from Viva Pinata for Xbox 360.

Effect	Unlock (Halo: Reach)	Unlock (Halo: The Master Chief Collection)
Birthday Party	200,000 cR	Season 1 Tier 25, 1

Living Effects

The following effect is continuously visible as long as the player is alive.

Legendary (Flaming Helmet)

• Effect: Flames similar to those from Bungie Armor burn around the player's head.

Effect	Unlock (Halo: Reach)	Unlock (Halo: The Master Chief Collection)
Legendary (Red Flaming Helmet)	0 cR - Included with the Legendary Edition of Halo: Reach.	Season 1 Tier 83, 1

Eternal

• Effect: Similar to Flaming Helmet, but with blue flames instead of orange.

Effect	Unlock (Halo: Reach)	Unlock (Halo: The Master Chief Collection)
Eternal (Blue Flaming Helmet)	0 cR- Formerly only available to Bungie employees, required e-mail verification through Bungie.net. Available until 7/7/11.	Season 1 Tier 100, 1

Living/Death Effects

The following effects are continuously visible as long as the player is alive, with a secondary effect when the player is killed.

Heart Attack

• Effect: Every few seconds, a heart floats out of the players body and disappears. When a player dies, several flying hearts will appear around the body of the player.
• Trivia: The hearts are actually based on a temporary effect used by Bungie effects artist Steve Scott for debugging. The effect is also seen in the "Dancing Marty" easter egg in Halo 3: ODST.
• Note: This armor effect has the potential to kill enemies in both firefight and matchmaking according to the Bungie.net heatmaps.

Effect	Unlock (Halo: Reach)	Unlock (Halo: The Master Chief Collection)
Heart Attack	300,000 cR	Season 1 Tier 65, 1

Pestilence

• Effect: Bugs and a cloud of green flows around the player. When hit, instead of blood, the player bleeds a green liquid similar to the pus-like fluid which is seen when shooting Flood forms. Upon the player's death, he/she explodes in a manner similar to a Flood carrier form. Occasionally the cloud will be red instead of green.

Effect	Unlock (Halo: Reach)	Unlock (Halo: The Master Chief Collection)
Pestilence	1,000,000 cR	Season 1 Tier 52, 1

Inclement Weather

• Effect: Electricity and thunder clouds swirl around the player's body. Upon the player's death, a bolt of lightning strikes its body.
• Trivia: This Armor effect's name is possibly a reference to Cortana's comment on Halo's climate as heard on Halo: Combat Evolved campaign level Assault on the Control Room; "Interesting... the weather patterns here seem natural, not artificial. I wonder if the ring's environment systems are malfunctioning... or if the designers wanted the installation to have inclement weather."

Effect	Unlock (Halo: Reach)	Unlock (Halo: The Master Chief Collection)
Inclement Weather	2,000,000 cR	Season 1 Tier 79, 1