Jiralhanae Power Armor



"He's got Power Armor, Chief! Take down his shields before you get close!"

- Marine during first encounter on Sierra 117

Power Armor, is the Brute armor featured predominantly during the events of the Covenant Civil War. Though in use since 2524, it saw widespread field operations only sometime after the Battle of High Charity. This armor did not appear until Halo 3.

Function
Power Armor serves as extra protection to the Brutes, who before the Civil war were generally poorly armored (with a few exceptions, such as the crew of the Rapid Conversion). Unlike Spartans and Elites, it is more of a deflection armour (e.g bullets will "ping" off the armour with the help of the shields). It provides protection from all ballistic and plasma weaponry, and even light shrapnel/explosive protection, until failure of the shielding. It also provides light protection from the environment and other elements.

The armor displays the rank of the Brute wearing it, usually through the color or complexity of the armor. The system is similar to that of the other Covenant races, although it seems to follow its own nomenclature.

In Halo: Contact Harvest, it is said that plasma was leaking out of a Brute's power armor as the shielding failed, which can also be seen in Halo 3 when the armor takes extensive damage.

Strengths
As with all Energy shielding, it is very good at absorbing damage from projectile weaponry. It also seems to solve the problem the Covenant may have had with finding energy shielding that would work on Brutes and be reasonably affordable. They also appear to recharge generally faster than the Elite's version. It comes in many varieties, some with more strength than others, and some with useful secondary applications (such as the built in Cloaking in Brute Stalker Power Armor, and the inability to stick grenades or Needler rounds to Brute Chieftain Power Armor).

It does not give off as much of a glow as Elite and Spartan Energy shields when hit, which can be useful for concealing the wearer's position, and since it falls apart once the shields go down, the Flood cannot use it for themselves. However, if the Flood infects a Chieftain whose armor doesn't fall off, it will still become a minor Brute combat form due to programming restrictions.

Weakness
It is variable in strength, ranging from being inferior to the Elite Personal Energy Shield and MJOLNIR Armor shielding to being roughly equal. It is easy to see how damaged the armor currently is via the luminosity of the armor's lights and the presence of sparks and smoke, which signifies that the armor's shielding is almost depleted. It is unable to recharge after complete overload (unlike Elite and Spartan shielding), and in fact, falls apart.

This may be caused by the system being less robust than other shielding systems (but is most likely a gameplay design choice.) However, as long as the system is not overloaded completely, it recharges as rapidly as the other systems do. Still, the Brutes are already naturally resilient, and can withstand substantial amounts of damage even without their armor.

It also falls prey to the usual weaknesses of energy shielding, including weakness to plasma weaponry. Of course, overcharged Plasma pistol shots can take it down in one hit.

Trivia

 * In Halo 3: ODST the Jiralhanae are apparently outfitted with power armor. However, the Brutes encountered by Blue Team at the Centennial Orbital Elevator are seemingly unarmored, despite the engagement occurring some two weeks after the events of Halo 3: ODST.
 * In Halo Wars, the Brutes commanded by the Brute Chieftain wore power armor, however their armor did not break off after sustaining damage and instead if the user takes too much damage, he would just die wearing the armor.

Related links

 * Jiralhanae
 * Elite Personal Energy Shield
 * MJOLNIR Powered Assault Armor