Jiralhanae Chieftain

Were you looking for the rank War Chieftain or Chieftain of the Jiralhanae, the rulers of the Jiralhanae?

"The Pack will feast on you!"

- Brute Chieftain to the Master Chief

The Brute Chieftain, also known as the Alpha Jiralhanae, is a Covenant Chieftain rank for the Jiralhanae race. It is the highest in the Jiralhanae hierarchy in social aspects and military rank.

Background
In Halo 2, there was only one Brute Chieftain, named Tartarus, who was killed by Thel 'Vadamee and his Sangheili allies on Installation 05. He used a powerful and unique Gravity Hammer, called the "Fist of Rukt", in this battle. The only known Brute Chieftain before Tartarus was his uncle, Maccabeus, who was also the previous wielder of Fist of Rukt.

In Halo 3, they command a "pack" of lesser Brutes and enforce the pack-like mentality. In the Halo 3 video documentary "Et Tu, Brute?", there were multiple Brute Chieftains seen, although not as high as Tartarus or Maccabeus, who were believed to be the highest of the Jiralhanae. They wear very elaborate gold or red Power Armor (which is stronger than usual and impervious to Plasma Grenades or Spike Grenades and Needler needles), breast-plates, and an even more intricate headdress.  The Brute Chieftain, may hold a rank similar to the Elite Zealot. In Halo Wars, Chieftains appear in crimson red attire.

Chieftain - Weapon
These Brute Chieftains are clad in ornate red and black armour. Whilst it cannot take as much damage as the bronze armor worn by War Chieftains, it allows greater speed and mobility. Their Power Armor cannot be stuck by Plasma Grenades, Spike Grenades, or Needler projectiles. However, their armour can be stuck by Incendiary Grenades. On Easy and Normal difficulties it is possible to stick their feet, hands and weapon with spike or plasma grenades. Their primary armament is the Gravity Hammer. Brute Chieftains are the only enemy, aside from the occasional Flood, who uses the weapon. On all level modes they carry and almost always use the Invincibility power-up. It is also possible for them to carry a Regenerator, Flare, or Power Drain. On their left arm, the armour is thicker to deliver bone-crushing melee attacks. Weapon Chieftains will be closely guarded by two or more Brutes, only leaving the security of the pack when they feel it is tactically sound or simply when they thirst for blood. Then they will run at the Master Chief (or Arbiter if co-op). If they run for you, turn and run as fast as you can. More often than not, unless you've managed to kill them within the first few seconds, they will activate their Invincibility if they are carrying one and you will not be able to kill them until it wears off. Chieftains can close distances quickly, and will not hesitate to smack anything out of their path. In the novel Contact Harvest, Tartarus likely wore this or a similar armour before he killed Maccabeus and obtained the same armour as War Chieftains wear.

Counter-Chieftain Tactics

 * Brute Chieftains, as fitting their "commander role", have incredible physical strength and agility, more so than their lesser brethren. Avoid going into melee combat with a Weapon Chieftain and even when facing off against a War Chieftain, take care not to get hit. However, if you do get yourself in the situation, do not try to melee him; if you are foolish enough to try and melee him, he will quickly deliver a deadly, final blow. Run away as quickly as possible once you see him trying to get close enough to melee you. Shoot him enough times with one of your guns (pistol and rocket launcher are recommended), until his "shielding" or power armor breaks, and try to save grenades up until this fight to "stick" him with one.
 * It is not advised to charge at a hammer-wielding Chieftain as it can kill the player with a one hit kill.
 * A hammer-wielding Chieftain will often utilize the invincibility power-up while charging at you if you're firing and backpedaling at the same time. However, if the player is able to kill the Chieftain before he activates it, the player can use the Invincibility to great gain.
 * Even when Chieftains utilize the Invincibility power-up, an assassination will still kill them.
 * Another good tactic to deal with Chieftains is to shoot its helmet/headdress off and shoot it multiple times in its head.
 * A good way to kill a Chieftain is to use Cloaking and assassinate them. This way you are unharmed, but you can also pick up their Invincibility, since they did not have time to activate it. However, you should be careful not to alert any of the surrounding Brutes. If they know that you are there, and even if they cannot see you, the Chieftain can sometimes sense where you are even if you are cloaked and will turn around in your direction, although he does not attack. This will make it harder to get behind him and if you touch him, he will hit you and you will temporarily lose your cloaking, allowing them to see and hit you.
 * Jump over a charging Hammer Chieftain and quickly turn around mid-air to assassinate it after you land.
 * A full magazine from a M6G pistol in its head will kill a Chieftain on Normal difficulty.
 * In Sierra 117, you can lure the Brute Chieftain to the edge of the cliff and as it prepares to attack, jump over it to send it falling to its death.
 * Although you cannot stick him, you can stick the Chieftain's Weapon, for instance the Gravity Hammer. It's quite difficult but it will kill him immediately. This does not work on Legendary.
 * When facing a charging hammer Chieftain, jump up as they try to hit you with their hammer and the blow from the hammer will push you away from the Brute, giving you more time to damage him, and ultimately kill him. Make sure you're not on an edge or the blast from the hammer could knock you over the edge, killing you.
 * Incendiary Grenades are a good way to kill a Chieftain, although on Legendary this is not a guaranteed one hit kill, as he can easily activate his Invincibility and negate the effects of your grenade. The use of invincibility can actually save the Chieftain even on Easy difficulty. Following it up with a head shot using an accurate weapon will usually take them down.
 * Throwing a Spike Grenade at where they are currently standing or where they are going to be standing will kill them in one hit. The easiest way to accomplish this is to first lure them into a corner.
 * The Covenant Carbine and the Battle Rifle are very good weapons for shooting off a Brute Chieftain's helmet.
 * The assault rifle is a viable option against Chieftains, due to its high rate of fire. Its melee is fast as well, allowing you to use the above option.
 * When you fight the first Chieftain on the Halo 3 level Sierra 117, a good tactic is to use the Sniper Rifle or Carbine on the Chieftain's head when he is beating up Johnson. His headdress should fall off. Then, later in the battle, as he charges at you shoot him multiple times in the head or chest with the Sniper Rifle and he will easily fall. You could also simply skip the cut scene with Johnson and the Chieftain so that you are free to snipe him while the cut scene is still acting out.
 * Another method is to jump when the Chieftain strikes and melee them in the back, like what you may do when fighting a Hunter in Halo 1, although when they are wielding a Gravity Hammer this can be difficult due to the fact that when you are jumping in the air the force from the Hammer's blow will you send you soaring even higher making it hard to land precisely behind the Chieftain and melee him in the back.
 * After they have struck, if you melee them in the stomach they will stagger back. Keep meleeing them and they won't have time to hit. However you must get your timing right as if it is not exactly after they've hit they will hit again. Also make sure all the other Brutes in the pack are dead or distracted.
 * When cornered by a Weapons Chieftain, there are several methods to escape the almost one hit kill Gravity Hammer. None of these methods will help you escape the blow entirely, but they might buy you some time to get in a better position or end up taking less damage: Firstly, you can try jumping. Very risky, as it has to be correctly timed in order to avoid damage. Also, it will cause you to fly in the air, therefore resulting in getting pushed off whatever platform you are on.
 * Because of their high firepower at long ranges, it is a good idea to engage a war Chieftain in melee combat. Those armed with Fuel Rod Cannons will not even fire their weapon when you are close enough to avoid splash damage.
 * Even though they are impervious to Needler projectiles, a Chieftain will still attempt to dodge them by diving into cover. This may allow you to get close to an Armour Chieftain.
 * A Shotgun or a Rocket Launcher are other ways to deal with Chieftains; however, be careful as they might activate their Invincibility and charge.
 * Dual-wielded Spikers should take it down, but you'll have to empty a full magazine from both weapons.
 * An excellent way to kill a hammer-wielding Chieftain on any difficulty level is that when he's charging you, when he's not invincible, charge him as well and when he swings his Gravity hammer he should jump past you if you're close enough. Then you can turn around and assassinate him.
 * If it has activated its Invincibility, don't try to confront the Chieftain; instead, continue to elude him until the Invincibility wears off.
 * If you shoot off a Chieftain's helmet, grenades will stick to his head.
 * In the level The Covenant use the Spartan Laser from the crashed pelican and it will be an instant kill on the Chieftains in both towers.
 * A Brute Chieftain will activate its Invincibility equipment when he is low on health.
 * The noob combo will get you a near instant kill from a distance; just make sure the other Brutes are dead.
 * Most war Chieftains will still kill you if there is a Brute nearby; if you hide behind another brute or get him in the Chieftain's line of fire he will still shoot at you.
 * If a Chieftain is surrounded by his brute companions, kill him first. If you kill all the others, than he will assault you and any of your allies.
 * Plasma weapons will work much better then human ballistics in taking down any of the Chieftain's armour. A plasma rifle or pistol works effectively at stripping the Brute of his armour.
 * When facing a Chieftain and his Brutes, he will not attack until all, or when some of his fellow Brutes dies. As such, if you have superior cover ,you might want to focus on killing the Chieftain first with a headshot capable weapon, like a BR55, SR, or a Carbine. He will not activate his Invincibility.
 * Even though they won't stick to the Brute's armor, throwing a spike grenade will cause the Brute Chieftain to make a clumsy dive sideways, making for an easy assassination.
 * A Covenant Carbine is an excellent weapon to use against a Weapon Chieftain, just aim for the head, keep running backwards, and he will quickly and easily die, for he doesn't seem to activate his invincibility.
 * Melee attacks against a War Chieftain are effective, as long as you do it consecutively and use a weapon with a quick melee attack.
 * You can also try to trap the Chieftain in a grav lift, as they don't seem to attack in mid air. Best way for this to work is if you pin him to a surface above, then you can choose to shoot him at a distance, or join him up top and beat him down.
 * You can also try to jump on top of the brute. He will not attack.

Trivia

 * In the level "The Storm", the Chieftain with the Plasma Turret has two sets of equipment: a Flare and a Power Drain.
 * During the early development of Halo 3, the Brute Chieftain was seen wielding an Energy Sword. This was probably taken out due to the fact that Brutes prefer Gravity Hammers over Energy Swords. And that it is the weapon of the Elites.
 * On Legendary difficulty, with the Mythic skull on, Chieftains can take sustain Scorpion rounds without dying.
 * Chieftains are arguably stronger than Hunters due to their special armour, Gravity Hammers, and extreme durability. They do, however, have two weakness that the Hunters do not have - the first would be a melee hit at the back would be an instant kill and the second would be the vulnerability once their headpiece is removed as they are susceptible to head shots.
 * Their Power Armor will not fall off when you shoot them or melee them, unlike other Brute ranks.
 * If you kill a Chieftain and take their Gravity Hammer and attack a pack of Brutes, they will say things like: "Who gave him a hammer?", "Recover the hammer!", "Retrieve that damned hammer!". If you fight a Grunt with it, they might say, "Oh no! He's got a hammer!" and will try to run away. Also, if the IWHBYD skull is on, they sometimes say "What fool gave that man a hammer?" or "Who do you think you are, Thor?" This is a reference to the Norse god Thor, who used a powerful hammer. Coincidentally, the Master Chief's armour is named MJOLNIR, which is the name of Thor's hammer.
 * If a Chieftain is transformed into a Flood Combat Form, its armour will become that of a Brute Minor. This can be easily observed in the latter half of The Covenant, where Flood join you and attack the Covenant.
 * In "Halo 3: The Strategy Guide", there is a mistake in that there is a War Chieftain wielding a Gravity Hammer. There are also images of a Weapons Chieftain wielding a Plasma Cannon and a Fuel Rod Gun.
 * In the Halo 3 level Sierra 117, a Chieftain is seen hanging onto the side of a Phantom, in the clearing with a crashed pelican down the cliff. Oddly, this Chieftain can be stuck with Plasma Grenades, but shows no reaction to it, and is immune to the blast.
 * Chieftains are feared by Marines, Elites, and even the Arbiter, as they occasionally give you verbal warnings when you engage a Chieftain.
 * An interesting occurrence that happens to Brute Chieftains is when they go berserk, while one with a Gravity Hammer will usually charge at the player normally, sometimes they actually put the Gravity Hammer on their backs and intend to beat the player down with their bare hands. One with a Plasma Cannon that goes berserk ends up with the Plasma Cannon disappearing on them and charge at the player. When killed, the plasma cannon comes out of their corpse. It was supposed to be put on their backs, but there is no animation of putting it on their back, so it just disappears.
 * A Brute Chieftain appears in Halo Wars, alongside the Prophet of Regret and Ripa 'Moramee, the Arbiter at the time.
 * Even though you can kill a Chieftain with five hits from a energy sword, it takes the Arbiter a considerable amount of time to kill a Chieftain with said energy sword.
 * In The Covenant, after entering the Citadel, it will show a Brute Chieftain beating Johnson, but on the screen as SPARTAN-117 watches, in the background it shows a Red armored minor Jiralhanae holding him by the neck.
 * Only Gravity Hammer wielding Chieftans will carry invincibility, as only War chieftains can use the power drain
 * If you kill the War Chieftain on The Covenant guarding the 3rd tower before he uses any equipment he will only drop one, though he can use multiple equipment pieces.
 * If you throw a spike grenade at the spot where it slams its hammer the grenade will instantly kill it.
 * On legendary, they will sometimes survive a hit from a rocket launcher.