The ranking system in Halo: Reach is based on credits (cR) earned through Forge, Multiplayer, Campaign, and Firefight matches. Credits are earned after every game, and players earn extra credits for medals earned during the match, (e.g. Double Kills) victory bonuses, commendations, and Daily/Weekly challenges. As the player's rank increase, the credits in each game they earn increase as well.
Overview
There is a total of fifty ranks available for players. As previously mentioned, these ranks can be obtained by gaining credits from the game. These credits can also be used to purchase armor permutations for the player's character model (spending credits in this way does not affect ranking). The ranks take the form of military-style ranks (similar to those seen in Halo 3), though at game launch only the first twenty-three (Recruit - Lieutenant Colonel, Grade 3) were available. This cap was the subject of a community challenge hosted by Bungie for the Reach playerbase to collectively earn 117 million cR, with regular updates posted on the Bungie.net weekly update. Forty-nine days after launch on November 10, 2010, the cap was lifted and all remaining ranks and unlocks were made available for purchase.[1]
In the days leading up to the launch of Halo 4, 343 Industries upped the chances for players to encounter a "Super Jackpot" in Halo: Reach, allowing them to earn more credits.[2]
Halo: Reach has a daily credit limit of 200,000 cR, meaning that it takes players approximately three months of hitting this limit every day to reach the rank of Inheritor.
Offline
Offline, the easiest ways to earn Credits are to either play Custom Games or, even easier, use Forge mode or Firefight, in which thousands of credits can be earned in a single relatively short session. However, after an account has been connected to Xbox LIVE, all modes are significantly lower than those awarded for playing multiplayer via Xbox Live or campaign. If an account has been used offline to earn credits, upon first connecting to Xbox LIVE the player is given a choice between keeping their current offline rank and armour - but not be able to change or gain further ranks - or be demoted to a low level (around the rank of Sergeant) and start the rank grind the same as all other players.
List of ranks
Trivia
- On Bungie.net, the rank insignia for Commander, Grade 3 features two grade bars. The in-game insignia and the one featured on Halo Waypoint's service record do not display this, and are thus used in the above table. The Bungie.net emblem variant can be seen below.
- The last seven ranks are loosely based on the last seven ranks of Halo 2.