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The unnamed shielding attachment is an external energy shield generator, developed by ONI's Section III R&D teams as support for the shielding system of the MJOLNIR Powered Assault Armor/Mark V.Template:Fact
Description
This device can temporarily enhance a Spartan's shield into near-invincibility, although when the shield is active, the user is unable to move. After a five-second period, the device deactivates and an Electromagnetic Pulse is released from the armor.
The use of this device is referred to as "Armor Locking".[1]
"Armor Locking"
It was previously thought that the device was only available for those playing Spartans in Halo: Reach.[1] However, it has recently been revealed that there is another version of Armor Lock for Elites, though whether this extends to multiplayer is unknown.[2] When performing an Armor Lock, the player is impervious to all damage, but it also renders the player immobile. When Armor Lock is activated, it will shed stuck Plasma Grenades and Needler rounds, Plasma Launcher rounds will be rendered harmless, and rockets will be deflected. It will charge up a powerful Electromagnetic Pulse when in use, which is detonated when Armor Lock is released. The animation for Armor Lock is the user slamming his fist on the ground. In doing so, he starts to emit an EMP as long as the button is held or until the Armor Lock ability is over.
Armor Lock can be charged up in three stages, with each stage inflicting a stronger EMP and pushing opponents farther away. Health or shields restore normally when Armor Lock is in use unless someone attacks you while in Armor Lock, in which case the recharge timer is reset just as it does when the player takes damage normally. Like all other Armor Abilities, Armor Lock will recharge once you stop using it. A quick way to neutralize the advantage of an Armor Lock-using player is to remain outside the EMP zone, fire one shot at him or her every once in a while to keep their shields down, and then attack when he or she either releases the button or is drained all of his or her stamina.
In the Halo: Reach Beta, players who tried to melee an Armor Locked enemy would be momentarily stunned and have their shields removed. Skilled Armor Lock users quickly learned how to time Armor Lock correctly so that any melee attack against them would be countered in this manner; the user would then be free to exit Armor Lock and instantly kill the defenseless enemy player with a headshot. In response, Bungie has made it so that players who melee an Armor Locked adversary will still be stunned, but their shields will not drop. Also, as a means to prevent an Armor Lock user from simply being gunned down as soon as they exited Armor Lock before they had a chance to defend themselves, the Beta featured a half-second interval in which the user would remain invulnerable after Armor Lock was released. This has been reduced to a quarter of a second for the final version, which is enough time for a player to exit Armor Lock and take a single step in whatever direction they want to go before becoming vulnerable again. Finally, exceptionally quick players of the Beta were able to barely tap the Armor Ability button in order to enter Armor Lock for a fraction of a second up to ten to twelve times in a row without having to wait for the Ability to recharge (Armor Lock was only intended to be used up to three times in succession before needing to recharge); this has also been removed.
Gallery
A player using Armor Lock while in a Stockpile.
A first-person view of a player using Armor Lock.
An Elite using Armor Lock through a glitch in the Halo: Reach Multiplayer Beta.
