RECON-class Mjolnir

The Mark VI MJOLNIR Powered Assault Armor/R variant, colloquially known as Recon Armor, or Recon by Bungie Employees, is a type of United Nations Space Command body armor.

Development and History
The Recon armor was developed parallel to the Scout Armor in the B5D Ordnance Testing Facility in Swanbourne, Perth, (Western) Australia. The main purpose of the Recon Armor was to create armor with stealth capabilities and with little or no loss of endurance, specifically by reducing its IR signature, reflective surfaces, and Cherenkov radiation emission.

Helmet Characteristics
The helmet has large, rounded features, with a rise along the top of the head with two black triangles pointing out the front of the head on each side of the rise. It has a thin visor and an area of black alloy beneath it that covers the nose, surrounded by armor. The helmet is largely angular with a pair of what look like breathers, on each side of the mouth and a small indent on the forehead.

Shoulder Characteristics
The pauldrons look like a more angular version of the EVA, with a box-like shoulder piece and a section jutting out and down the arm, at a 90-degree angle from the shoulder piece.

Chest Characteristics
The chest piece is similar to the Mark VI but instead of being made up of smooth plates reflecting the human body, it is more angular and flat like the other parts of the armor and reflects it with a few small changes. This chest piece like all armor permutations, is an attachment on to the standard Mark VI armor.

Unlock

 * Head: Unlock all Vidmaster Challenge Achievements in Halo 3 and in Halo 3: ODST. Then, click "Unlock My Recon" in your Bungie.net Service Record.


 * Shoulders: Unlock all Vidmaster Challenge Achievements in Halo 3 and in Halo 3: ODST. Then, click "Unlock My Recon' in your Bungie.net Service Record.


 * Chest: Unlock all Vidmaster Challenge Achievements in Halo 3 and in Halo 3: ODST. Then, click "Unlock My Recon" in your Bungie.net Service Record.

Trivia

 * Perhaps even more coveted than the Recon armor is a chest piece that has flame on the collar, simulating a flaming head. As a misconception, many people believe that there is "Flaming Recon," along with other flaming helmets. This is, in fact, a chest-piece exclusive to Bungie that produces the flaming effect around the head, known as Bungie Armor.
 * Recon was mistakenly labeled E.O.B. in many pictures, being translated as meaning 'Employee of Bungie'.
 * The game guide makes no mention of the Recon armor. It is noted that Bungie requested that some of the armor permutations not be in the guide.
 * The Recon Armor (with flaming helmet) came 10th in the Top 10 Videogame Armor, a feature by Machinima.com.
 * On 7/7/09, players that beat a team of Bungie employees in Matchmaking were awarded Recon Armor.
 * McFarlane Toys produced Recon Armor in Red, Blue and Active Camo as rewards obtained through their Halo Points program. White and "Steel" versions of this armor was announced for their sixth series of action figures.
 * In Halo 3: ODST, the ONI officer Dare, who is your superior in the game, wears an ONI-modified version of the Recon armor, and is the first canonical appearance of the armor variant in a Halo game. In fact, Recon and standard Mark IV, V, VI and ODST are the only variants to appear in the series.
 * During the period of time after Halo 3: ODST's release, the R variant slowly began to retrogress in popularity amongst Halo 3 players; stating that the Recon armor was starting to "lose its luster" in a way due to the now almost frequent encounters much like the Katana, Hayabusa Powered Assault Armor, and the Mark V(m) MJOLNIR Powered Assault Armor before it. In addition, a mere week after ODST's release, over 60,000 people gained Recon Armor from completing the Vidmaster Challenges.
 * Interestingly, the Recon armor cannot be used when not connected to Xbox Live and will disappear and revert the player's armor back to Mark VI upon logging on offline. However, if the player connects first and disconnects from Xbox Live, or connects to Xbox Live after logging in offline, the armor is available. This is most likely due to the game checking your service record to see that the armor is enabled for your profile.