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.

Death Effects
The following effect occurs when the player is killed.

Birthday Party



 * Cost: 200,000 cR
 * 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.

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

Legendary (Flaming Helmet)



 * Cost: Available for free to buyers of the Halo: Reach Legendary Edition.
 * Effect: Flames similar to those from Bungie Armor burn around the player's head.

Eternal



 * Cost: Was originally limited to Bungie employees, but it was available for free to anyone with a linked gamertag on Bungie.net or who downloaded the Bungie iPhone app before July 7, 2011. As of December 3, 2019, it is available to everyone as a Tier 100 rank reward in Halo: The Master Chief Collection on PC and Xbox One.
 * Effect: Similar to Flaming Helmet, but with blue flames instead of orange.

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



 * Cost: 300,000 cR
 * 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.

Pestilence



 * Cost: 1,000,000 cR
 * 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.

Inclement Weather



 * Cost: 2,000,000 cR. Tier 79 rank reward on Halo: The Master Chief Collection.
 * 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."