Jiralhanae Jumper

The Jump Pack Brute is a Brute (Jiralhanae) rank.

Description
On their dorsal sides, they carry jump packs for increased mobility. They are the Brute counterpart to Elite Rangers, but unlike the Rangers whom were met in a low-gravity environment, they are not capable of complete aerial tactical maneuvering; rather, their jump packs propel them on an immense jump to a greater distance than even a Man Cannon can offer.

They most commonly use Radar Jammers, Flares and Trip Mines, flying in and dropping them near their opponents. Their jump packs do not break down with the rest of their Power Armor when heavily damaged, so they may continue their airborne assaults until they are killed. They replaced the Ranger Elites of Halo 2 after the Elites formed the Covenant Separatists.

Appearances
They utilize jump packs on the battlefield and wear a strikingly obvious dark blue armor similar to the Ranger Elites of Halo 2. Jump Pack Brutes made their first appearance in the level Crow's Nest and appear as well in most Halo 3 levels. They also appear in Halo Wars, as an upgrade for standard Brutes, only available if the Brute Army Commander is the selected leader, and in Halo: Uprising, onboard the Forerunner Dreadnought.

In Halo 3: ODST there appears to be different Jump Pack ranks. There are red and gold coloured armour, with the rank order speculated as being blue, red, and then gold. During Campaign, Gold Jumppacks appear on harder difficulties or with the Thunderstorm Skull enabled.

Combat
Jump Pack Brutes will often use their high mobility to get behind and out-flank the player. As such, it is imperative to listen for the sounds of their jump packs, to quickly locate and eliminate them; however, as you often fight groups of Jump Pack Brutes, it can be difficult to keep track of all of them. One of their main weaknesses is they generally stay in the same position upon landing and before take off. The large number of blue lights on their chest can betray a jump pack Brute's position and are a good aiming aid for a player, particularly when one is using a more accurate weapon, like the Battle Rifle, or Covenant Carbine. Also, when flying, they appear unable to fire their weapons. It can occur, however, that they begin throwing a grenade before lifting off, completing this action when airborne.

Jump pack brutes normally use such weapons as Spikers, Brute Shots, and more often than not, Carbines. It would be smart to bring a mid-to-long ranges weapons, such as a Carbine or Battle Rifle. However, the smartest move would be to obtain a sniper weapon (Sniper or Beam rifle), and then kill as many as you can before entering the area.

Upon being defeated, if the final shot or melee attack made contact with the back of the jump pack, the jump pack will malfunction and rocket the Brute forwards a short distance. This also works when they are sniped out of the air. Another effective tactic is to run up to them when they are on the ground and melee them, or stay where they are going to land and shoot them with a overcharged plasma pistol and melee them, this is often referred to as the "plasma punch".

Tactics
Jump Pack Brutes are not extremely challenging in small numbers, though they can be overwhelming in large numbers, assuming the player knows what to do when you see them. It takes them a few seconds for them to land after being at the maximum height, so the player can easily look up and run under the Brute, then assassinate him when he lands. It is recommended you do NOT use an automatic weapon on them while they are soaring through the air. Also, on the level Crow's Nest, the Jump Pack Brutes have Trip Mines, and placing one down under the spot where they are about to land is fatal to them.

Trivia

 * If you kill them (typically with a melee attack) while they are about to activate their jump pack, the jump pack will still activate and lift the corpse into the air or just make the corpse move forward in a straight line.
 * If one is infected by the Flood, it will lose its jump pack, possibly because a Combat Form would not be able to use such technology.
 * If a Jump Pack Brute goes berserk, it will fly at you and try and hit you on the head, killing you upon impact.
 * For gameplay, they are the replacement of the Ranger Elite.

Related Pages

 * Brutes
 * Ranger Elite
 * Brute Stalker