Equipment

In Halo 3, Spartans, Elites and Brutes can carry one extra item of equipment (deployed using the “X” button on the default setting of the Xbox 360 controller). The type of equipment varies dramatically in its purpose, functionality, and appearance, but all can be used with deadly or strategic force. There may be more to find and their availability is subject in matchmaking rules.

Overview
The philosophy of equipment is simple: to add a variety to the combat in Halo 3 without unbalancing the game. The simple fact is that equipment items, once deployed, can be used by both attackers and defenders. Someone on your team might accidentally activate your Trip Mine, and a Bubble Shield, which is a geometric spherical shield – while they can’t shoot in, you can’t shoot out either. Suffice to say that equipment can turn the tide of battle if used correctly. It can be useful in multiplayer and campaign if you know how to use it.

To make it more balanced, it takes longer to deploy equipment than in the Halo 3 Beta, but you can throw it further. It is not entirely clear which faction, Human or Covenant, manufactures each piece of equipment, but only covenant are seen utilizing it in the Campaign.

Most theories say that the Forerunner made some of the equipment, but no one knows for sure.

List of Equipment

 * Bubble Shield
 * Power Drain
 * Radar Jammer (No longer usable in Matchmaking)
 * Gravity Lift
 * Trip Mine
 * Flare (No longer usable in Matchmaking)
 * Regenerator
 * Deployable Cover (Never usable in Matchmaking)
 * Automated Turret (Campaign Only)
 * Cloaking (Campaign Only)
 * Invincibility (Campaign Only)
 * Active Camouflage (Multiplayer Only)
 * Overshield (Multiplayer Only)
 * Custom Powerup (Multiplayer Only)

Equipment Abilities

 * Bubble Shield - The Bubble Shield releases a spherical shield around a center generator. No bullets or grenades can pass through the shield either way, but vehicles and players (ally AND enemy) can pass through.


 * Power Drain - When deployed, the Power Drain produces a blue field that will generally drain everyone's shields within range and if thrown near a vehicle in motion an EMP (electro magnetic pulse) effect occurs (similar to the EMP effect of a charged Plasma Pistol shot) which causes the vehicle to stop and drains the energy shields of any kind. The vehicles weapons systems are still functional. However, if you stay too close to the power source, the explosion can come close to killing you. If you know how to use it, you can use it to disable vehicles and you can board them.


 * Radar Jammer - When deployed, ghost contacts will appear on the motion sensors of anyone within the area of it, causing confusion. When moving away from the Radar Jammer, the contacts will begin to slowly disappear and eventually completely disappear.


 * Flare - Similar to the radar jammer, but instead of making your radar useless, it makes your sight useless. This creates a blinding light, resulting in all players within range losing their sight for a matter of seconds. Turning away from the power source or blocking it out some way lessens the effect. The flare also makes you to not be able to see the radar. You shouldn't use it on Campaign because Brutes can still see you when you deploy it. It was used in online matchmaking, but after an update, it was removed. Used with the radar jammer, it can make a person bascially blind as a dead grunt.


 * Deployable Cover - Once deployed, this creates a large energy shield, which can temporarily protect those hiding behind it. In Custom Games and Forge, it will disable itself after approximately 30 seconds, where as in Campaign, it can last infinitely, although it can be easily destroyed by shooting the base unit or exploding it. Hitting the shield itself three or so times will work too, but then you have to hit the vulnrable base to completely destroy the whole shield. The only thing that you might be vulnreble to is a gravity hammer blast or an energy sword slash because those are one hit kills and the shield is weak against it.


 * Regenerator - This creates a large green field, that is similar to the power drainer's, but instead of draining your shield, it regenerates the shields of anyone within its radius. It is wise to note that everyone within range will benefit from it, not just the person who deployed it. It differentiates from the Bubble Shield as it just creates a field of energy, instead of protecting you like the Bubble Shield does. Its effect can be described as the exact opposite of the Power Drain; however, if a Power Drain is placed next to a Regenerator, the Power Drain will overpower it. Please note that the Regenerator does NOT protect against anything that can kill in one or two hits. A sniper headshot or point blank shotgun shot, for instance, will kill you, even if you are in a Regnerator. Two melees performed immediately will also take you out, as your shields will not regenerate fast enough.


 * Invincibility - This changes your armor to have lots of white lines forming pentagons all over you much like a overshield charged 4X but instead of a dull yellowish color, invincibility is bright, vivid blue. If you activated a cloaking before / after you activated the Invincibility, you will be seen. If you are against a Invincible Brute Chieftan, you can still kill it in one way, assasination hit it in the back and his spine will snap instantly. You using the invincibility can still get your self killed by jumping of a cliff, or getting assasinated. The Arbiter and other invulnurible characters can still kill you instantly if you kill them enough times to make them your enemy.
 * Gravity Lift - Once deployed, the grav-lift projects a bluish-purple anti-gravity beam which can propel players or light vehicles into the air, much like The Covenant's Ghost, Banshee and Wraith lifts but on a much smaller scale. Useful for getting to higher places you would otherwise not be able to reach. It dissipates after about 45 seconds. The Scorpion and Wraith cannot be lifted.


 * Trip Mine - Once deployed, as said in its name, it is an explosive charge which reacts and explodes to movement near itself or if it is shot, effectively taking out your shields, even not doing anything to you if you stand directly on it or run over a vehicle or other object vulnerable to explosion. Luckily, when deployed, it lets out a beeping warning signal and an orange light to let you know if you are near one of these, and the signal gets louder as you get closer. The trip mine in the Halo 3 beta, though, is much more powerful and sticks on to vehicles. You can try to deploy the mine upside down so the light will be dimmer and it will be darker and invisible to enemies. A safe way to walk over Trip Mines is to walk / crouch so that the radar cannot decect you in any way unless you make a sudden movement; at this speed, the Trip Mine will not detonate, but you will be doomed if an enemy spots you trying this.


 * Active Camouflage - Like Cloaking, the Active Camouflage or Active Camo will give its user invisibility for a short time. Like the Cloaking weapons fire or radial damage will lessen the effect of the camo, making the user more visible. The only difference is that it is activated instantly. Invisible players are still visible on the motion tracker. But notice that if you have a Overshield / invincibility activated at the same time you will be visible.


 * Overshield - The Overshield gives the user a extra layer of shielding which will slowly dissipate over time or will weaken when exposed to any form of damage. The overshield also makes you invincible (note that players can still be assasinated) while it is charging.


 * Custom Powerup - A Custom Powerup cannot be found in any maps by default, and must be placed in the map on Forge. It affects the user in various ways: good (faster speed, lower gravity, one-shot kills, invisibility, invincibility, etc...) or even bad (reduction in health, slower speed, lower damage resistance, higher gravity, instant death, lower damage done, bad weapon respawn, ect.). These settings can be activated or deactivated in the custom powerup settings area in the game variant settings area. This also can be used for the long rumored agility powerup.

Tips

 * Place a Bubble Shield and position a Sniper Rifle so only the end protrudes, therefore being able to snipe people without getting hurt. Another clever method is to drop a bubble shield at an approaching enemy in possession of a missile pod or Spartan laser, possibly resulting in the enemy committing suicide. An extremely good tactic during a Free for All game is to get the Energy Sword and the Bubble Shield and deploy the Shield right in the middle of the map, and those foolish enough to attempt to kill you will soon be respawning. Bullets can't go in or out. Vehicles can still try to splatter you.


 * Don't activate Power Drains against Grunts, they don't have energy shields therefore the Power Drain is a waste of time on them. The only thing that would make a Power Drain useful against them is that you can try to stop them in their Ghosts.
 * Try not to activate an Auto Turret while or after activating the replacement Installation 04 / Installation 00 in Halo 3, because after you kill 343 Guilty Spark on the last mission it will kill you. This could be because of the absence of the Monitor as without it, the Constructs within the installation would go rampant and when it shoots you for a few seconds on legendary, you will die.
 * You should deploy a Trip Mine in a close quarters area, or near or under explosive items like vehicles, for these both increase the chance of seriously hurting multiple players. Be sure to warn your team when and where you have deployed a Trip Mine to prevent a possible needless betrayal. Also deploy the Trip Mine in an area that is hard to see as it has lights on it making it easy to avoid. Trip mines also make a ticking noise the closer you are to them. Placing Trip Mines and throwing a grenade can cause massive damage to an ememy just outside of the trip range.
 * You can use a Deployable Cover to help you get to higher places by using it as kind of a step stool, like for getting skulls in Campaign.
 * Use Invincibility in packed areas such as a group of Brutes to keep you from dying and getting through more easily.
 * Use Cloaking to be stealthy and maybe try to get a few assassinations on some enemy troops.
 * Use the Flare to blind people to easily get from one place to another.
 * If you deploy a Grav Lift just before a speeding vehicle is about to hit you, the vehicle will simply splatter your head in most cases.
 * If you have been seen by an enemy, run to some cover and throw a Flare to blind the enemy and you can either run or fight them while they are not looking at your direction.
 * Use a Bubble Shield if you have been shot or you are getting shot to take cover and recharge your shields, but be warned that they can still enter it and finish the job.
 * If you deploy a Trip Mine at the indent of an enemy machine gun turret, enemies might step on it as they go through, thus depleting their shields. The enemy is now vulnerable to a quick Magnum shot or Battle Rifle burst to finish him/her off. Note: If playing a team based game, be sure to alert your allies of the trap set intended for your enemies.
 * Use Auto Turrets to help attack enemies such as the brutes, not flood because they are too flexible.
 * Use Regenerators if your shields are depleted and you quickly need recharge your shields very quickly.
 * If an opponent has a Rocket Launcher, a Spartan Laser or a Fuel Rod Cannon, and they are at close range and are about to fire at you, deploy a Bubble Shield, if done correctly the enemy will hit the shield while very close and end up committing suicide.
 * Throw a Power Drain at an enemy who has deployed a Regenerator, and it will overpower the Regenerator and instead drain their energy bar, shoot at them then to kill them with ease.
 * Don't use the Flare on enemies in Campaign because it doesn't blind them.
 * Deploy a Trip Mine at a rapidly approaching vehicle to destroy it.
 * On the level Crows Nest a Cloaking device can be found in a blue control room that is seen in the cut-scene before that level.
 * If you can tell that a grenade is coming your way, then deploy a Bubble Shield. Odds are that the grenade will bounce off of the shield and back to the owner of the grenade, damaging/ killing / sticking him/her, and leaving them with weak shielding, allowing you to take them out very quickly.
 * A little known fact about the Trip Mine is that it is very similar to a real player using radar. If you crouch or move slowly, as long as your dot does not show up, the Trip Mine will not recognize you. Use this tip to pass tight areas where one was deployed, or if you happen to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.
 * The power drain can kill the enemy if it explodes very close to them.
 * You can throw a Trip Mine at someone and it will be like a grenade and blow up the enemy. Only do this when you are desperate and you are about to die, this procedure drains your shields but damages all enemies within a 5.5 meter radius.
 * While fighting against the Flood, deploy a cover in a hallway and the Flood will not pass through and you can run or pick them off.
 * On Crow's Nest, there is a room that contains lots of goodies such as SMGs, Magnums, Assault Rifles, etc. in the part where you have to clear the hangar for the Pelican to launch, go up all of the stairs and the room is blue with a lot of laptops. The equipment that can be found there includes Regenerators, cloaking devices, Bubble Shields, Trip Mines, Deployable Covers, Power Drains, and Flares.
 * Power Drains have the ability to pass through Bubble Shields.
 * A good tactic with the Trip Mine is to go to the other team's base and throw it under their vehicles. Try to communicate this to your team if you do.

Trivia

 * Though many of these are available in Multiplayer, the Automated Turret, Cloaking and Invincibility are exclusive to the Campaign for balancing reasons.
 * In splitscreen mode, if you throw a Flare, you and your enemy will be blinded.
 * In the January 2008 issue of EGM, in an interview with Brian Jarrard and Tyson Green, it was revealed that there was a piece of equipment cut from the final game known as The Vortex. It was said to be deployed the same as a Power Drain, but would instead create a mini black hole that would "suck" in any object within range, and diverting its course into the black hole, and away from your face. It was even able to affect nearby objects such as the Fusion Coil and even other players. The design was cut due to the fact that it was too "expensive" from a networking and performance standpoint.
 * When you try to drop a Grav Lift on a vehicle or an object (like a crate on Forge), the equipment will go through the object and end up underneath it.
 * Although covered by the Active Camouflage, an Auto Turret can still detect you.
 * While using Active Camouflage and mounted on a Warthog turret, you can shoot and your Camouflage is not disturbed at all, unlike firing normal weapons in Campaign and Multiplayer.
 * In Campaign, the Deployable Cover lasts forever until it is destroyed. In Multiplayer, it lasts for around 30 seconds before self-destructing. A Deployable Cover can be destroyed by putting enough damage to its source, which is located in the center on the ground. This can be done easily with a grenade or a swing of the gravity hammer.
 * There are pieces of equipment that appear before they are said to first appear in the Halo 3 Official Guide, such as the two Cloakings in Crow's Nest.
 * A Grav Lift can be spawned in Forge as deployable or as deployed.
 * You can jump on top of the barrier emitted by the Deployable Cover. It also works to make a single or double box float is spawned inside one.
 * After you have deployed a Trip Mine, it is immediately activated and any motion near its vicinity will set it off, be it from you, your team members, or your foe, and this does not exclude moving vehicles.
 * Shooting anything Plasma-related through a Deployable Cover will drain the cover's energy.
 * Projectile weapons can be fired through Deployable Covers if you are standing behind it, but energy or plasma weapons will cause the shield to take damage.
 * Shooting the center of the Bubble Shield will cause it to loose energy or be destroyed.
 * Radar Jammers and Flares are no longer usable in Matchmaking, due to glitches and cheap kills.
 * The Regenerator's generator can take heavy punishment, withstanding even a spike grenade.
 * Shooting a Trip Mine, Radar Jammer, Power Drain, or Bubble Shield will cause it to explode.
 * When you throw a Bubble Shield, it is invisible for few milliseconds, but the generator isn't and the shield still works even though invisible.
 * A Grav Lift can lift any thing including grenades, Trip Mines, fusion coils, and trucks.
 * A Deployable Cover's base is easier to shoot from the front than the back(its true!).
 * Shooting a Grav Lift will cause it to stop functioning.
 * The UNSC made the Trip Mine and Bubble Shield, but no marines or ODSTs have been seen using them.
 * There is a glitch in campaign where you get in the back of a Pelican and walk to the door to the cockpit, and if you throw a Deployable Cover, the Pelican will crash.