Armor customization

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SPARTAN Armor Permutations
There are a wide variety of SPARTAN II armor permutations, with eleven helmets, eight shoulder pieces, and eight chest pieces for a total of 5,632 different SPARTAN armor permutations: one helmet, two shoulder pieces, and one chest piece per permutation, not taking into account if you happen to be one of those lucky individuals working for Bungie able to use the fire armour. With the exception of the Rogue, Mark V, and ODST armor, which do not have either chest or shoulder pieces, and Security armor, which does not have a chest piece. The HAYABUSA Project was developed alongside the MJOLNIR Project and includes the HAYABUSA and Katana permutations.

Helmets

 * Mark VI: Unlocked by default.
 * CQB: Unlocked by default.
 * EVA: Unlock the Campaign Complete: Normal Achievement.
 * EOD: Unlock the Campaign Complete: Legendary Achievement.
 * Hayabusa: Collect all 13 Skulls in Campaign mode.
 * Security: Earn more than 1000G or 49 achievements in Halo 3.
 * Scout: Unlock the Used Car Salesman achievement.
 * ODST: Unlock the Spartan Graduate Achievement. After TU2, in the new rank progression system this Achievement must be unlocked by reaching the rank of Private grade two in any playlist ranking.
 * Mark V: Unlock the UNSC Spartan Achievement. After TU2, in the new rank progression system this Achievement must be unlocked by reaching the rank of Sergeant in any playlist ranking.
 * Rogue: Unlock the Spartan Officer Achievement. After TU2, in the new rank progression system this Achievement must be unlocked by reaching the rank of Lieutenant in any playlist ranking.
 * Recon: One way is to unlock all of the Vidmaster Achievements in Halo 3 and Halo 3: ODST. The problem is that for the achievement, "Brainpan," you must find the skulls on all 3 Mythic Maps, and the three maps coming with Halo 3: ODST, meaning that you must wait until the release of Halo 3: ODST to get the achievement. The armor can also be unlocked by doing something that makes Bungie feel you deserve it, such as a forge map, screenshot, or machinima.

Shoulder Pieces

 * Mark VI: Unlocked by default.
 * CQB: Unlocked by default.
 * EVA: Complete The Ark in Campaign on Normal or higher difficulty.
 * EOD: Complete the level The Ark on Legendary difficulty.
 * Hayabusa: Collect at least 9 skulls.
 * Security: Earn 800-900 gamerscore on Halo 3. Due to inconsistency, this armor permutation is not always given at 750. There are some reports that the Security Shoulders need a minimum of 450- 995 gamerscore, even though the official guide to Halo 3 lists the requirements as 750 (could also be total metagame points). Even then, the armor permutation may be unlocked, and then re-lock itself after a time, as has been reported. The only way to keep it permanently is to get all the achievements. This permutation may sometimes need the player's model to have accessed online to unlock it. The easiest way to get them is by unlocking the Marathon Man Achievement.
 * Scout: Unlock the Mongoose Mowdown achievement.
 * Recon: Get all the Vidmaster Achievements in Halo 3 and Halo 3: ODST. It can also be unlocked by doing something that makes Bungie feel you deserve it, such as a forge map, film or screenshot.



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Sangheili/Elite Armor Permutations
There are a wide variety of Elite armor permutations, with 5 helmets, 5 shoulder pieces, and 5 chest pieces for a total of 15 different Sangheili armor permutations: one helmet, two shoulder pieces, and chest piece per permutation and 625 possible combinations with all pieces in consideration.

Helmets

 * Combat: Unlocked by default.
 * Assault: Unlocked by default.
 * Flight: Unlock either Campaign Complete: Heroic or Campaign Complete: Legendary Achievements.
 * Ascetic: Unlock the Steppin' Razor achievement.
 *  Commando: Unlock the Overkill Achievement.

Shoulder Pieces

 * Combat: Unlocked by default.
 * Assault: Unlocked by default.
 * Flight: Complete the level The Ark on Heroic or Legendary difficulties.
 * Ascetic: Unlock the Overkill achievement.
 * Commando: Unlocked by default after Auto Update 1 was applied on February 19, 2008. At first, the Steppin' Razor achievement was needed to unlock the piece, but a bug prevented this. Some people reported getting the shoulder pieces, but then they re-locked themselves after a certain amount of time without being used.

Chest Armor

 * Combat: Unlocked by default.
 * Assault: Unlocked by default.
 * Flight: Complete the level Tsavo Highway on Heroic or Legendary difficulties.
 * Ascetic: Unlock the Up Close and Personal achievement.
 * Commando: Unlock the Triple Kill achievement.

Trivia

 * The EOD chest variant is surprisingly similar to the Mark V chest plate. Many people have noticed this, and wear the chest plate with the Mark V helmet and the Mark VI shoulders to re-create Mark V armor from Halo: CE.
 * There was originally going to be an Arbiter Armor Permutation, but it was taken out before Halo 3's release. Bungie however, did not explain why.
 * Before the release of the Halo 3 Beta, it was speculated that there would be Brute Armor Permutations. This made sense, since the information about Brute ranks and armor had been released in a Bungie podcast.
 * Due to the different posture, Elite Armor is normally considered harder to headshot from behind compared to Spartan Armor, although easier from the side.
 * The neck of an Elite (regardless what armor permutation used) is completely immune to any form of damage, except for a charged Type-25 Directed Energy Pistol. In addition, the projectile will simply pass through the neck, as though the neck wasn't there, without even a blood spatter.
 * Other than Recon there are 7 shoulder and body armors. Another reference to Bungie's favorite number.
 * If you look into the visors of Spartans, you will see an empty version of the map.
 * Hayabusa's development was in tandem with that of the original MJOLNIR project.
 * Chris Butcher has stated that there was going to be more Elite armor that was going to be downloadable content but apparently the coding won't work. There are no pictures of these armor permutations but one of them might have been the Arbiter armor.